Small ball, miscues lead to Tribe win over Tigers
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
When the Hillsboro Indians discovered a weakness in the game of the McClain Tigers Monday evening, they used it to their advantage.
Hillsboro's small ball effort of bunting and keeping the baseball on the ground led to a couple of high scoring innings for the host team, as the Indians defeated their Highland County rival, 11-3 for their first win of the season.
The inning that broke the game open was the second for the Indians as they took advantage of four fielding errors by the Tigers, along with forcing two walks, being hit by a pitch and tallying two hits in what turned into a seven-run inning by HHS.
HHS followed that up with four more runs in the third for their 11 total runs as they also totaled 11 hits and five walks for the South Central Ohio League game.
"We are starting to put it all together," HHS head coach Tim Hunt said. "We are batting well (just over .300), and our defense is improving.
"We are starting to play smart, and it is a step in the right direction."
As for the third, though, the Tribe used a mixture of capitalizing on errors, along with keeping the ball on the ground, to rack up the runs.
Before HHS (1-2, 1-8) went to the plate in their half of the second, the defense of the Tribe forced HHS to leave the bases full as the visiting Tigers loaded the bases with two outs. MHS even got the count to 3-1 in the at-bat following the bases being loaded, but HHS pitcher Nick Stacy got the count to 3-2 and from there forced a pop up to second base to end the Tigers' threat.
MHS also left the bases full in the fifth inning and the seventh inning.
HHS sent 12 batters to the plate, beginning with Zach Young leading things off with a six-pitch walk. Stacy followed with a walk of his own, and Zach Stacy loaded the bases with a single.
From there, Cole Reveal gained one RBI as two runs scored on a squeeze play, with Reveal's RBI coming with Young crossing the plate, followed with Nick Stacy scoring on an infield error by the Tigers.
Alex VanZant reached first on the second consecutive infield error by the Tigers, allowing Zach Stacy to score. Brandon Carter followed with a base hit, batting in Reveal.
The Indians continued to add to their lead with Ryan LeMaster taking to the bases on a hit-by-pitch, and Ty Crum reached first on another infield error.
VanZant, Carter and LeMaster all scored, with Young bringing home a run after being hit by a pitch in his second at-bat of the inning. The inning finally ended on a 1-2-3 double play.
"We put pressure on (McClain) with our bunting," Hunt said. "We had some problems getting the bunts down, but others stepped up and got the bunts down, which allowed the runners to score."[[In-content Ad]]
HHS kept the momentum in the bottom of the third as Reveal, Trey Moberly, LeMaster and Crum added four more runs to the Shaffer Park scoreboard.
Reveal reached base in the third on a base hit, followed by VanZant singling, but was later out on a fielder's choice. Moberly reached first base on a base hit.
With two outs, LeMaster doubled in Reveal and Moberly, while Crum followed with a single. Young batted in LeMaster, and Young scored on a passed ball.
For the game, the Tigers (1-2, 3-5) committed five errors.
"We had two rough innings, and we couldn't defend the bunt," MHS head coach Brandon Streitenberger said. "We acted like we've never seen a bunt before, and credit Coach Hunt, he kept at it."
HHS finished with three batters gaining two hits in Moberly, LeMaster and Zach Stacy. Moberly was 2-for-4 with one run, and LeMaster was 2-for-3 as he was hit by a pitch and added two runs and two RBIs. Zach Stacy was also 2-for-3 as he too was hit by a pitch and scored once.
Young was 1-of-2 with two RBIs, one run, one walk and he was hit by a pitch. Nick Stacy didn't have a hit but forced three walks.
As for the Tigers, their runs were scattered with one each in the third, fifth and seventh innings.
Jordan Boles scored the Tigers' run in the third, Brent Shannon had a run in the fifth and the final run by MHS was in the seventh by Cameron Spangler.
MHS collected seven hits (four walks), with Trevor Gossett and Zach Puckett each going 2-for-4. Boles, Spangler and Caleb Rayburn gained one hit. Spangler was 1-for-1 with two walks and was hit by a pitch.
The win went to Nick Stacy, who pitched all 6.1 innings. He allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits and three walks. Stacy totaled six strikeouts. VanZant pitched the final 0.2 innings, gaining the final two outs with strikeouts. He allowed one hit and one walk.
Stacy earned praise from Coach Streitenberger.
"Stacy pitched a whale of a game against us," Streitenberger said. "He got into jams but worked his way out of them. It was impressive.
"Hillsboro is a well-coached team, and they will only continue to get better."
McClain's Kyle Flora was charged with the loss.
HHS will play again on Wednesday as they travel to face Miami Trace. McClain will host London, as both games are SCOL games.
Hillsboro's small ball effort of bunting and keeping the baseball on the ground led to a couple of high scoring innings for the host team, as the Indians defeated their Highland County rival, 11-3 for their first win of the season.
The inning that broke the game open was the second for the Indians as they took advantage of four fielding errors by the Tigers, along with forcing two walks, being hit by a pitch and tallying two hits in what turned into a seven-run inning by HHS.
HHS followed that up with four more runs in the third for their 11 total runs as they also totaled 11 hits and five walks for the South Central Ohio League game.
"We are starting to put it all together," HHS head coach Tim Hunt said. "We are batting well (just over .300), and our defense is improving.
"We are starting to play smart, and it is a step in the right direction."
As for the third, though, the Tribe used a mixture of capitalizing on errors, along with keeping the ball on the ground, to rack up the runs.
Before HHS (1-2, 1-8) went to the plate in their half of the second, the defense of the Tribe forced HHS to leave the bases full as the visiting Tigers loaded the bases with two outs. MHS even got the count to 3-1 in the at-bat following the bases being loaded, but HHS pitcher Nick Stacy got the count to 3-2 and from there forced a pop up to second base to end the Tigers' threat.
MHS also left the bases full in the fifth inning and the seventh inning.
HHS sent 12 batters to the plate, beginning with Zach Young leading things off with a six-pitch walk. Stacy followed with a walk of his own, and Zach Stacy loaded the bases with a single.
From there, Cole Reveal gained one RBI as two runs scored on a squeeze play, with Reveal's RBI coming with Young crossing the plate, followed with Nick Stacy scoring on an infield error by the Tigers.
Alex VanZant reached first on the second consecutive infield error by the Tigers, allowing Zach Stacy to score. Brandon Carter followed with a base hit, batting in Reveal.
The Indians continued to add to their lead with Ryan LeMaster taking to the bases on a hit-by-pitch, and Ty Crum reached first on another infield error.
VanZant, Carter and LeMaster all scored, with Young bringing home a run after being hit by a pitch in his second at-bat of the inning. The inning finally ended on a 1-2-3 double play.
"We put pressure on (McClain) with our bunting," Hunt said. "We had some problems getting the bunts down, but others stepped up and got the bunts down, which allowed the runners to score."[[In-content Ad]]
HHS kept the momentum in the bottom of the third as Reveal, Trey Moberly, LeMaster and Crum added four more runs to the Shaffer Park scoreboard.
Reveal reached base in the third on a base hit, followed by VanZant singling, but was later out on a fielder's choice. Moberly reached first base on a base hit.
With two outs, LeMaster doubled in Reveal and Moberly, while Crum followed with a single. Young batted in LeMaster, and Young scored on a passed ball.
For the game, the Tigers (1-2, 3-5) committed five errors.
"We had two rough innings, and we couldn't defend the bunt," MHS head coach Brandon Streitenberger said. "We acted like we've never seen a bunt before, and credit Coach Hunt, he kept at it."
HHS finished with three batters gaining two hits in Moberly, LeMaster and Zach Stacy. Moberly was 2-for-4 with one run, and LeMaster was 2-for-3 as he was hit by a pitch and added two runs and two RBIs. Zach Stacy was also 2-for-3 as he too was hit by a pitch and scored once.
Young was 1-of-2 with two RBIs, one run, one walk and he was hit by a pitch. Nick Stacy didn't have a hit but forced three walks.
As for the Tigers, their runs were scattered with one each in the third, fifth and seventh innings.
Jordan Boles scored the Tigers' run in the third, Brent Shannon had a run in the fifth and the final run by MHS was in the seventh by Cameron Spangler.
MHS collected seven hits (four walks), with Trevor Gossett and Zach Puckett each going 2-for-4. Boles, Spangler and Caleb Rayburn gained one hit. Spangler was 1-for-1 with two walks and was hit by a pitch.
The win went to Nick Stacy, who pitched all 6.1 innings. He allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits and three walks. Stacy totaled six strikeouts. VanZant pitched the final 0.2 innings, gaining the final two outs with strikeouts. He allowed one hit and one walk.
Stacy earned praise from Coach Streitenberger.
"Stacy pitched a whale of a game against us," Streitenberger said. "He got into jams but worked his way out of them. It was impressive.
"Hillsboro is a well-coached team, and they will only continue to get better."
McClain's Kyle Flora was charged with the loss.
HHS will play again on Wednesday as they travel to face Miami Trace. McClain will host London, as both games are SCOL games.