McClain Tigers sweep Fairfield Lions; fall to Chillicothe
Lead Summary
By
Jim Jones-
GREENFIELD — The McClain varsity baseball team had a successful weekend by winning two out of three games played Friday night and Saturday afternoon.
After suffering a disappointing 11-4 South Central Ohio League loss to Chillicothe at home on Friday night, the Tigers bounced back with a doubleheader non-league sweep of Highland County counterpart Fairfield on Saturday afternoon.
In the first game on Saturday against the Lions, MHS sophomore John Salyers pitched a complete game to earn the victory in a nail-biting 2-1 win over Fairfield. Salyers gave up just the one unearned run while striking out six batters and walking just three batters. He also had a big run-scoring double at the plate.
Fairfield’s Tucker Ayres also went the distance on the mound but was charged with the loss, giving up just the two runs on six hits.
Jacob Easter scored McClain’s first run in the fourth inning on Salyers’ double to deep left-center field which tied the game at (1-1). The Tigers scored the go-ahead in the bottom of the fifth when Austin Booth led off with a double and later came around to score on a single by Colton Mossbarger.
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The Lions’ only run was scored by Mason Cain in the top of the second.
“I thought we played all-around pretty well in that first game today,” McClain head coach Richie Bunner said. “I wish we could have hit the ball a little better, and we left eight runners on base, but overall I thought we played well.
“Defensively, our outfield was outstanding, and we got some great pitching from John Salyers, who has also been hitting the ball pretty well too. Our kids responded well today after yesterday’s tough league loss, so I’m really happy with this win.”
Batting leaders for McClain in game one were Dakota Duncan 2-for-4, Austin Booth 2-for-3 (double), Salyers 1-for-3 (double, RBI) and Colton Mossbarger 1-for-2 (RBI).
For the Lions, they had a 2-for-3 game from Klay Walker, who also had one RBI. Also with a hit was Mason Cain at 1-for-2 with one run. Sam Buddelmeyer had one walk in the loss.
McClain won game two by a 6-4 count as senior Jacob Easter picked up the complete game victory.
That game saw the Tigers take a 6-1 lead after two innings, with MHS scoring all six runs in the bottom of the second. They added one final run in the fifth inning. The Lions scored one run in the second, two in the sixth and one run in the seventh. In all, the Lions had 12 hits and the Tigers totaled eight hits.
For FHS, Walker, Ayres, Setty, Eli Potts and Mathew Spears each had two hits, while Cody Gragg and Cain each had one hit. Leading FHS in RBIs was Gragg with two. Potts scored two runs for the Lions.
The Tigers were led by Jacob Easter with a 3-for-3 game with two RBIs. With two hits each were Pollock and Hutchinson. Having one hit in the game was Duncan. All seven of McClain’s runs were earned runs.
Easter was the winning pitcher with a complete seven innings pitched. He allowed four earned runs on 12 hits and two walks. He finished with six strikeouts in the win.
Andrew Dingey was charged with the loss for the Lions, totaling four strikeouts in six innings.
In Friday’s loss to Chillicothe, freshman Sam Faulconer pitched well for McClain, but some poor fielding and lack of run production proved to be the difference in the contest.
“Sam (Faulconer) pitched a solid game for us today,” Bunner said. “But it’s just the same old story … we’re still having trouble defensively fielding the baseball. Overall, I thought we played pretty well and there were some positives to build from, but we gave them a couple of extra outs and you can’t do that.
“There is a lot more to this game than just wins and losses. Give Chillicothe credit, they’re a pretty good team that is well-coached.”
The Cavaliers scored three runs in the top of the first on three hits and took the early 3-0 advantage.
McClain answered in the bottom of the second with a mammoth home run to straightaway center field by John Salyers that was an estimated 400 feet. The score remained at 4-1 over the next couple of innings until Chillicothe plated three more runs in the fourth inning on just two hits.
The Tigers came right back with two runs in the bottom of the fourth when Austin Booth singled and scored on a single by Salyers. Salyers scored on an RBI single by Faulconer, trimming the deficit to 7-3. The disappointing thing for the Tigers in the inning was McClain left the bases loaded, which prevented an even bigger offensive inning from happening.
The Cavaliers added four more runs over the final three innings while keeping the Tigers scoreless and came away with the 11-4 victory.
Batting leaders for McClain in the Chillicothe game were Salyers 3-for-4 (home run, two RBIs), Dakota Duncan 2-for-4, Jay Beatty 2-for-4 (double), Colton Mossberger 1-for-3 and Sam Faulconer 1-for-3.
After suffering a disappointing 11-4 South Central Ohio League loss to Chillicothe at home on Friday night, the Tigers bounced back with a doubleheader non-league sweep of Highland County counterpart Fairfield on Saturday afternoon.
In the first game on Saturday against the Lions, MHS sophomore John Salyers pitched a complete game to earn the victory in a nail-biting 2-1 win over Fairfield. Salyers gave up just the one unearned run while striking out six batters and walking just three batters. He also had a big run-scoring double at the plate.
Fairfield’s Tucker Ayres also went the distance on the mound but was charged with the loss, giving up just the two runs on six hits.
Jacob Easter scored McClain’s first run in the fourth inning on Salyers’ double to deep left-center field which tied the game at (1-1). The Tigers scored the go-ahead in the bottom of the fifth when Austin Booth led off with a double and later came around to score on a single by Colton Mossbarger.
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The Lions’ only run was scored by Mason Cain in the top of the second.
“I thought we played all-around pretty well in that first game today,” McClain head coach Richie Bunner said. “I wish we could have hit the ball a little better, and we left eight runners on base, but overall I thought we played well.
“Defensively, our outfield was outstanding, and we got some great pitching from John Salyers, who has also been hitting the ball pretty well too. Our kids responded well today after yesterday’s tough league loss, so I’m really happy with this win.”
Batting leaders for McClain in game one were Dakota Duncan 2-for-4, Austin Booth 2-for-3 (double), Salyers 1-for-3 (double, RBI) and Colton Mossbarger 1-for-2 (RBI).
For the Lions, they had a 2-for-3 game from Klay Walker, who also had one RBI. Also with a hit was Mason Cain at 1-for-2 with one run. Sam Buddelmeyer had one walk in the loss.
McClain won game two by a 6-4 count as senior Jacob Easter picked up the complete game victory.
That game saw the Tigers take a 6-1 lead after two innings, with MHS scoring all six runs in the bottom of the second. They added one final run in the fifth inning. The Lions scored one run in the second, two in the sixth and one run in the seventh. In all, the Lions had 12 hits and the Tigers totaled eight hits.
For FHS, Walker, Ayres, Setty, Eli Potts and Mathew Spears each had two hits, while Cody Gragg and Cain each had one hit. Leading FHS in RBIs was Gragg with two. Potts scored two runs for the Lions.
The Tigers were led by Jacob Easter with a 3-for-3 game with two RBIs. With two hits each were Pollock and Hutchinson. Having one hit in the game was Duncan. All seven of McClain’s runs were earned runs.
Easter was the winning pitcher with a complete seven innings pitched. He allowed four earned runs on 12 hits and two walks. He finished with six strikeouts in the win.
Andrew Dingey was charged with the loss for the Lions, totaling four strikeouts in six innings.
In Friday’s loss to Chillicothe, freshman Sam Faulconer pitched well for McClain, but some poor fielding and lack of run production proved to be the difference in the contest.
“Sam (Faulconer) pitched a solid game for us today,” Bunner said. “But it’s just the same old story … we’re still having trouble defensively fielding the baseball. Overall, I thought we played pretty well and there were some positives to build from, but we gave them a couple of extra outs and you can’t do that.
“There is a lot more to this game than just wins and losses. Give Chillicothe credit, they’re a pretty good team that is well-coached.”
The Cavaliers scored three runs in the top of the first on three hits and took the early 3-0 advantage.
McClain answered in the bottom of the second with a mammoth home run to straightaway center field by John Salyers that was an estimated 400 feet. The score remained at 4-1 over the next couple of innings until Chillicothe plated three more runs in the fourth inning on just two hits.
The Tigers came right back with two runs in the bottom of the fourth when Austin Booth singled and scored on a single by Salyers. Salyers scored on an RBI single by Faulconer, trimming the deficit to 7-3. The disappointing thing for the Tigers in the inning was McClain left the bases loaded, which prevented an even bigger offensive inning from happening.
The Cavaliers added four more runs over the final three innings while keeping the Tigers scoreless and came away with the 11-4 victory.
Batting leaders for McClain in the Chillicothe game were Salyers 3-for-4 (home run, two RBIs), Dakota Duncan 2-for-4, Jay Beatty 2-for-4 (double), Colton Mossberger 1-for-3 and Sam Faulconer 1-for-3.