Hillsboro holds on to defeat Tigers
Lead Summary
By
Jim Jones-
GREENFIELD — The Hillsboro Indians varsity baseball team traveled to Greenfield Friday evening and came away with a hard-fought 5-3 Frontier Athletic Conference victory over McClain, with Ethan Humphries picking up the complete-game win on the mound.
Humphries and McClain’s starting pitcher Cody Pollock, who also pitched a complete game, kept both teams’ batters at bay for most of the contest. Hillsboro scored a run in the top of the first when Kelton Anderson singled and scored on a double by Payton Bell for a 1-0 advantage.
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McClain came back with a single run in the bottom of the first on an RBI double by John Salyers that scored Garrison Banks, who singled.
The Indians added two more runs in the top of the second when Ethan Watson singled and Dylan Boone reached on an error, and both later scored. Ryan Scott had an RBI double, and Bell followed with a run-scoring single, pushing the Hillsboro lead up to 3-1.
Both pitchers kept the game scoreless over the next couple of innings until Hillsboro got a lead-off single from Scott in the top of the fifth, and he came around to score on an RBI off the bat of Phillip Mycroft.
The Tigers answered in the bottom of the sixth when Austin Booth singled and scored on an RBI single by Kyle Wyatt that cut the deficit to one run at 4-3.
The Indians scored a big insurance run in the top of the seventh when Bell singled and scored on an RBI double by Anderson. Humphries set down the McClain batters in order in the bottom of the seventh, giving the Indians the 5-3 victory.
“I thought we got a really good start on the mound today from Ethan Humphries,” Hillsboro head coach Matt Garman said. “This was his first win of the season after having a couple of tough-luck starts recently. He’s really a work horse for us, and it was nice to see him get the win.
“I thought we really struggled at the plate, and McClain’s pitcher did a really good job of keeping our hitters off-balance.”
A disappointed McClain head coach Richie Bunner was still happy with some of his team’s effort in the game.
“I thought Cody Pollock pitched a nice ballgame for us and really kept us in the game,” Bunner said. “Our hitting has kind of taken a back seat on us the last couple of games, but our defense was much better and finally showed up tonight.”
McClain will be back in action on Saturday when they host Clinton-Massie in a non-league doubleheader.
Humphries and McClain’s starting pitcher Cody Pollock, who also pitched a complete game, kept both teams’ batters at bay for most of the contest. Hillsboro scored a run in the top of the first when Kelton Anderson singled and scored on a double by Payton Bell for a 1-0 advantage.
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McClain came back with a single run in the bottom of the first on an RBI double by John Salyers that scored Garrison Banks, who singled.
The Indians added two more runs in the top of the second when Ethan Watson singled and Dylan Boone reached on an error, and both later scored. Ryan Scott had an RBI double, and Bell followed with a run-scoring single, pushing the Hillsboro lead up to 3-1.
Both pitchers kept the game scoreless over the next couple of innings until Hillsboro got a lead-off single from Scott in the top of the fifth, and he came around to score on an RBI off the bat of Phillip Mycroft.
The Tigers answered in the bottom of the sixth when Austin Booth singled and scored on an RBI single by Kyle Wyatt that cut the deficit to one run at 4-3.
The Indians scored a big insurance run in the top of the seventh when Bell singled and scored on an RBI double by Anderson. Humphries set down the McClain batters in order in the bottom of the seventh, giving the Indians the 5-3 victory.
“I thought we got a really good start on the mound today from Ethan Humphries,” Hillsboro head coach Matt Garman said. “This was his first win of the season after having a couple of tough-luck starts recently. He’s really a work horse for us, and it was nice to see him get the win.
“I thought we really struggled at the plate, and McClain’s pitcher did a really good job of keeping our hitters off-balance.”
A disappointed McClain head coach Richie Bunner was still happy with some of his team’s effort in the game.
“I thought Cody Pollock pitched a nice ballgame for us and really kept us in the game,” Bunner said. “Our hitting has kind of taken a back seat on us the last couple of games, but our defense was much better and finally showed up tonight.”
McClain will be back in action on Saturday when they host Clinton-Massie in a non-league doubleheader.