Hillsboro held hitless in loss to Blue Lions
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HILLSBORO — Cole Romine of the Washington Blue Lions kept the Hillsboro Indians hitless, and with his performance on the mound, the Indians were unable to win on their home diamond, falling to WSHS, 2-1.
The Blue Lion pitcher pitched all seven innings, allowing no runs on no hits and five walks and one hit batter. Romine finished with four strikeouts in the South Central Ohio League showdown at Richard Shaffer Park.
"Their pitcher kept us off-balanced, and that's what any coach wants from their pitchers," HHS head coach Tim Hunt said. "We've been struggling hitting.
"We had our chances. We had bases loaded once and had runners in scoring position three times, but we just didn't get them in, and credit him for keeping us off-balanced. Sometimes we lose discipline and swing at bad pitches, but you have to give him credit for the way he pitched."
Hillsboro (0-1, 1-3) did score one run, coming in the bottom of the fifth inning where Alex Van Zant, who walked to begin the inning, scored on an infield error by the Blue Lions with one out, allowing Trey Moberly to reach first base.
Even without a hit, the Indians led, 1-0 headed into the top of the sixth inning, but by the time the inning was complete … the Blue Lions led by a 2-1 score.
Washington began the top of the sixth with Cole Massie gaining a base hit. He was replaced on the bases with pinch-runner Gaerhett Ferguson.
Heath Cassidy followed by taking first after being hit by a pitch, and with two outs, Christian Johnson forced a walk to load the bases.
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That allowed Romine to help his cause, batting in both Ferguson and Cassidy, who just slid past the tag at the plate, for the game-winning runs.
The loss went to Jacob Helterbrand of HHS. He pitched all seven innings, allowing two runs (both earned) on four hits and five walks. He struck out two strikeouts.
"Jacob pitched well enough to keep us in the game," Hunt said. "He gave us the opportunity to win it. He got up to 95 pitches, and being this early in the season, we didn't want to let him go any further than that.
"He begged us to let him go back in, and as a coach, you want that from your players. It was good to hear him tell us that. It shows us he wants to be out there playing."
For HHS, they had their chances as they loaded the bases in the second inning with two outs but ended up with no runs in the inning. Forcing walks in that inning were Latrell Haithcock, Cole Reveal and Van Zant. Van Zant and Haithcock finished the game by drawing two walks.
"We are getting runners on and over, but we just have to start getting them in," Hunt said. "That's the story of our season thus far. In the games we've lost, we just haven't been able to get the runners in.
"We played great defense (Friday), but in those other games we've lost, we had too many mistakes in the field."
Ryan LeMaster was hit by a pitch in the sixth. Seth Meyer and R.J. Collard had sacrifices.
HHS is scheduled for a doubleheader at Little Miami. On Monday, the Indians travel to Miami Trace for a SCOL contest. On Tuesday, the Indians have a makeup game scheduled at East Clinton.
The Blue Lion pitcher pitched all seven innings, allowing no runs on no hits and five walks and one hit batter. Romine finished with four strikeouts in the South Central Ohio League showdown at Richard Shaffer Park.
"Their pitcher kept us off-balanced, and that's what any coach wants from their pitchers," HHS head coach Tim Hunt said. "We've been struggling hitting.
"We had our chances. We had bases loaded once and had runners in scoring position three times, but we just didn't get them in, and credit him for keeping us off-balanced. Sometimes we lose discipline and swing at bad pitches, but you have to give him credit for the way he pitched."
Hillsboro (0-1, 1-3) did score one run, coming in the bottom of the fifth inning where Alex Van Zant, who walked to begin the inning, scored on an infield error by the Blue Lions with one out, allowing Trey Moberly to reach first base.
Even without a hit, the Indians led, 1-0 headed into the top of the sixth inning, but by the time the inning was complete … the Blue Lions led by a 2-1 score.
Washington began the top of the sixth with Cole Massie gaining a base hit. He was replaced on the bases with pinch-runner Gaerhett Ferguson.
Heath Cassidy followed by taking first after being hit by a pitch, and with two outs, Christian Johnson forced a walk to load the bases.
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That allowed Romine to help his cause, batting in both Ferguson and Cassidy, who just slid past the tag at the plate, for the game-winning runs.
The loss went to Jacob Helterbrand of HHS. He pitched all seven innings, allowing two runs (both earned) on four hits and five walks. He struck out two strikeouts.
"Jacob pitched well enough to keep us in the game," Hunt said. "He gave us the opportunity to win it. He got up to 95 pitches, and being this early in the season, we didn't want to let him go any further than that.
"He begged us to let him go back in, and as a coach, you want that from your players. It was good to hear him tell us that. It shows us he wants to be out there playing."
For HHS, they had their chances as they loaded the bases in the second inning with two outs but ended up with no runs in the inning. Forcing walks in that inning were Latrell Haithcock, Cole Reveal and Van Zant. Van Zant and Haithcock finished the game by drawing two walks.
"We are getting runners on and over, but we just have to start getting them in," Hunt said. "That's the story of our season thus far. In the games we've lost, we just haven't been able to get the runners in.
"We played great defense (Friday), but in those other games we've lost, we had too many mistakes in the field."
Ryan LeMaster was hit by a pitch in the sixth. Seth Meyer and R.J. Collard had sacrifices.
HHS is scheduled for a doubleheader at Little Miami. On Monday, the Indians travel to Miami Trace for a SCOL contest. On Tuesday, the Indians have a makeup game scheduled at East Clinton.