Defense, hitting lift Mustangs over rival Lions
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
DODSONVILLE — The Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs continued to swing a hot bat Tuesday night as they won their eighth straight game. LC put the ball into play to defeat Southern Hills League foe Fairfield 12-1, in their Highland County showdown at Lynchburg-Clay High School.
The Mustangs, who won the game in five innings, aren't just hitting the ball when they make contact, they are crushing it with force as they scored runs in all four trips to the plate against rival Fairfield.
"I gave the guys two numbers," LC head coach Aric Fiscus said. "One was we've had eight games with an average of two strike outs, and before today we were putting the ball into play 91 percent of the time. If we can force our opponent to field it, anything can happen."
Though LC was hitting the ball in all directions, it was the Lions who scored first in their first trip to the plate in the top of the first inning.
Ian Adams, who finished 2-for-3, began the SHL contest with a single and took second on an error. The error allowed Bobby Wilson to take first, giving the Lions runners at first and second. Wilson went 2-for-3 at the plate.
Both runners got one base closer to home plate when they advanced one base on a passed ball. The bases became loaded when Nathaniel Miller forced a walk. With one out, Dakota Hargrave singled in Adams for the first run of the game.
That would be all the Fairfield scoring for the remainder of the SHL contest.
FHS didn't hold onto the lead long as the undefeated Mustangs scored two runs in their half of the first.
Leadoff hitter Dalton Cox forced a walk, followed with Austin Fawley hitting a single past the third baseman and short stop of the Lions. Cody Roush knocked home Cox with a ground out to tie the game at one.
Ray Doss reached first on an error, scoring Fawley to put LC up 2-1.
The Mustangs held the lead for the rest of the game.
In the bottom of the second, the Mustangs scored four times on one hit, two walks, an error and two sacrifices to the outfield.
Wes Pierson and Brad Barger each forced walks to start the inning. Darren Harp reached on an error, allowing Pierson to score. Cox then doubled to center field, gaining an RBI as Barger crossed home plate. Fawley hit a sacrifice fly to the outfield, plating Harp, as Harp slid safely into home. Roush then hit another LC sacrifice fly to score Cox.
Ryan Doss gave up a base hit to Adams in the top of the third to lead off the inning. Doss responded with three straight outs, gaining two by strikeout.
Leading by five runs LC added another run in the third.
The seventh Mustang run came when Dallas Puckett hit a one-out single to reach first base. With two outs, Barger hit a run-scoring double to bring Puckett to home plate for a 7-1 advantage.
The biggest inning for the Mustangs came in the bottom of the fourth with five runs.
Cox led off with a single and scored on a sacrifice fly by Roush. In the game Roush moved or scored base runners three different times.
Fawley then singled, and Ray Doss had an RBI base hit when Fawley crossed home on the single. Ryan Doss reached on an error by the Lions, and Puckett hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Ray Doss.
Pierson doubled in Ryan Doss, and Barger scored Pierson on a single for the final run of the game.
Ryan Doss earned the win for the Mustangs. Doss pitched all five innings. Along with the five innings, Doss allowed one run (one earned) on seven hits and two walks. Doss struck out five batters.
The loss was charged to Tyler Campbell. Campbell pitched four innings, allowing 12 runs (eight earned) on eight hits and three walks. Campbell had one strikeout.
"Ryan has just been steady and has been hitting the right spots," Fiscus said. "Today he had more problems than he has had all season, but he was able to battle out of those situations."
Again, the defense of LC proved to be a factor in the win.
"Our defense played well after the first inning," Fiscus said. "When you play Fairfield you never know what Coach (Jeff) Miller will do. He may bunt, hit-and-run or whatever. You always have to be on top of your game against them. We respect Fairfield a lot and we (Miller and Fiscus) have been battling each other for 15 years.
"On defense, this was our most complete, all-around effort of the season."
The win lifts the Mustangs to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in the SHL. FHS drops to 4-3 overall, 4-1 SHL.
The Mustangs will travel to face Manchester on Thursday and will hit the road Friday to take on Eastern Brown.
BOX SCORE
FHS 100 000 x - 1
LCHS - 241 5xx x- 12
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The Mustangs, who won the game in five innings, aren't just hitting the ball when they make contact, they are crushing it with force as they scored runs in all four trips to the plate against rival Fairfield.
"I gave the guys two numbers," LC head coach Aric Fiscus said. "One was we've had eight games with an average of two strike outs, and before today we were putting the ball into play 91 percent of the time. If we can force our opponent to field it, anything can happen."
Though LC was hitting the ball in all directions, it was the Lions who scored first in their first trip to the plate in the top of the first inning.
Ian Adams, who finished 2-for-3, began the SHL contest with a single and took second on an error. The error allowed Bobby Wilson to take first, giving the Lions runners at first and second. Wilson went 2-for-3 at the plate.
Both runners got one base closer to home plate when they advanced one base on a passed ball. The bases became loaded when Nathaniel Miller forced a walk. With one out, Dakota Hargrave singled in Adams for the first run of the game.
That would be all the Fairfield scoring for the remainder of the SHL contest.
FHS didn't hold onto the lead long as the undefeated Mustangs scored two runs in their half of the first.
Leadoff hitter Dalton Cox forced a walk, followed with Austin Fawley hitting a single past the third baseman and short stop of the Lions. Cody Roush knocked home Cox with a ground out to tie the game at one.
Ray Doss reached first on an error, scoring Fawley to put LC up 2-1.
The Mustangs held the lead for the rest of the game.
In the bottom of the second, the Mustangs scored four times on one hit, two walks, an error and two sacrifices to the outfield.
Wes Pierson and Brad Barger each forced walks to start the inning. Darren Harp reached on an error, allowing Pierson to score. Cox then doubled to center field, gaining an RBI as Barger crossed home plate. Fawley hit a sacrifice fly to the outfield, plating Harp, as Harp slid safely into home. Roush then hit another LC sacrifice fly to score Cox.
Ryan Doss gave up a base hit to Adams in the top of the third to lead off the inning. Doss responded with three straight outs, gaining two by strikeout.
Leading by five runs LC added another run in the third.
The seventh Mustang run came when Dallas Puckett hit a one-out single to reach first base. With two outs, Barger hit a run-scoring double to bring Puckett to home plate for a 7-1 advantage.
The biggest inning for the Mustangs came in the bottom of the fourth with five runs.
Cox led off with a single and scored on a sacrifice fly by Roush. In the game Roush moved or scored base runners three different times.
Fawley then singled, and Ray Doss had an RBI base hit when Fawley crossed home on the single. Ryan Doss reached on an error by the Lions, and Puckett hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Ray Doss.
Pierson doubled in Ryan Doss, and Barger scored Pierson on a single for the final run of the game.
Ryan Doss earned the win for the Mustangs. Doss pitched all five innings. Along with the five innings, Doss allowed one run (one earned) on seven hits and two walks. Doss struck out five batters.
The loss was charged to Tyler Campbell. Campbell pitched four innings, allowing 12 runs (eight earned) on eight hits and three walks. Campbell had one strikeout.
"Ryan has just been steady and has been hitting the right spots," Fiscus said. "Today he had more problems than he has had all season, but he was able to battle out of those situations."
Again, the defense of LC proved to be a factor in the win.
"Our defense played well after the first inning," Fiscus said. "When you play Fairfield you never know what Coach (Jeff) Miller will do. He may bunt, hit-and-run or whatever. You always have to be on top of your game against them. We respect Fairfield a lot and we (Miller and Fiscus) have been battling each other for 15 years.
"On defense, this was our most complete, all-around effort of the season."
The win lifts the Mustangs to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in the SHL. FHS drops to 4-3 overall, 4-1 SHL.
The Mustangs will travel to face Manchester on Thursday and will hit the road Friday to take on Eastern Brown.
BOX SCORE
FHS 100 000 x - 1
LCHS - 241 5xx x- 12
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