Lions break tie in 7th inning; defeat Mustangs

DODSONVILLE — Taking advantage of opponents’ miscues in late innings is an important part of baseball. The Fairfield Lions did that and then some in the final inning Tuesday against Highland County foe Lynchburg-Clay.

While playing on the road in a Southern Hills Athletic Conference contest, the young Fairfield squad ran the bases with aggressiveness and took advantage of a passed ball and an error, scoring two runs to break a 1-1 tie to eventually gain the 3-1 win at LCHS.

“Coming into this game, we knew Lynchburg-Clay has always been really good, and we knew we had to come ready to play,” FHS head coach Tony Haley said. “Our guys got tough, and we had a great pitching game from Mitch Rose. Our defense was good behind him, and we had some key hits.

“When you play a team as quality as Lynchburg-Clay, you have to be ready to play, and our guys did a awesome job today, and I was really proud of them.”

Not only did the Lions take advantage of what was given to them, but they did that behind some solid pitching on their side of the field, as senior Mitchell Rose allowed just one run in a complete game.

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As for that top of the seventh inning, it should be noted the Lions held a 1-0 lead going into the bottom of the sixth inning, but once that was complete, the score was tied at 1-1 with Kendall Vilvens gaining a two-out base hit to centerfield that scored Devin Pierson from second base.

“Remember, they had another runner at first base in that inning, and we picked him off, and that was big for us,” Haley said. “We worked on our rundowns, and Mitch made a nice move on the rundown to get the out. That was big.”

Then came the top of the seventh inning, where the Lions regained the lead and never lost it again.

The Lions began the inning by popping up to the shortstop for the first out, but then the game got a bit interesting, as Cody Gragg forced a walk on a 3-2 count. He advanced to second on a passed ball during the ensuing at-bat.

Gragg moved to third on a ground ball hit by Klay Walker, who reached first base on an infield error at first base by the Mustangs, allowing Gragg to race around third and score the go-ahead run for the Lions.

“Cody is truly a baseball player, and he loves the game,” Haley said. “Cody did a great job getting a jump on the bases, but you have to tip your cap to their lefty over there (Wes Smith). He’s pretty tough, and he kept us close. He pitched a whale of a game, too.”

After Walker was standing at second base, he took third base on a ground ball hit to first base by Rose, putting him 90 feet away from adding another run for the Lions. Walker eventually crossed home plate, as Sam Buddelmeyer singled to shallow right field to plate Gragg for the insurance run and the two-run advantage.

“For a 40-degree night at best, this was a good high school game that was played hard,” LC head coach Garyn Waits said. “I thought they came out ready to play baseball, because usually on nights like this, you have 8-7 scores.

“As solid as Fairfield’s defense is, they can compete in the conference. They had timely hits.”

Rose went back to the mound for the seventh, as he and his teammates shut down the Mustangs in order with a called third strike, a ground out to second base and a swinging strike three on a 3-2 count for the final out.

As for the Lions’ first run of the game, it came in the top of the fifth inning with Austin Setty scoring on a suicide squeeze off a bunt by Gragg. Setty initially took the bases with a five-pitch walk, followed by stealing second and third bases. The run scored as he sprinted home on the bunt laid down by Gragg on a 3-1 count for a then 1-0 lead for the Lions.

Back to Rose, as his pitching was a thorn in the side for the Mustangs on Tuesday. The senior pitched all seven innings, where he allowed just one earned run on five hits and no walks, with seven strikeouts. For the game, Rose had three pitches or fewer 11 times against batters. He threw 18 first-pitch strikes.

The Lions finished with seven hits, with Walker finishing 2-for-3 with one run. Setty, Gragg, Rose, Buddelmeyer and Hunter Dixon each had one hit. As a team, FHS forced three walks.

“We are just going to keep fighting,” Haley said. “We have a young team, and we are going to play hard.”

As for the Mustangs, in their half of the fifth inning, they had a chance to tie the score but left a runner stranded at third base. LC finished with four hits, with Drew Pitzer finishing 2-for-3, with the other two hits coming from Christian Inman and Pierson. LC also had three sacrifices in the game.

The loss was charged to Wes Smith in a tough-luck loss, as he pitched 6.1 innings, where he had 18 first-pitch strikes, along with four strikeouts.

“Both starters in this game were on the plate, and it was just a matter of what was going to break first,” Waits said. “Unfortunately, it happened against us. Both pitchers battled, and this game was a battle.

“I can’t emphasize enough just how good of a game this was. It was a battle of the pitchers. This is the third game dating back to last year where Wes pitches very well and doesn’t get the win. He had the no-hitter last year and lost against North Adams, and tonight he had a 3-1 ball game and that’s not the way it is supposed to work … we’ve just got to get him more run support.”