Hillsboro Indians walk their way to 7th-inning rally victory at Washington
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
WASHINGTON C.H. — Having just one hit and one run entering the seventh and final inning, the outcome of the game looked like it wasn’t going to be in favor of the Hillsboro Indians in Fayette County.
That assumption would have been wrong because the final inning ended up being the most important inning of their Frontier Athletic Conference opener with the Washington Blue Lions. The Indians drew five consecutive walks to start the inning, and the first nine batters of the inning forced a 1-0 count to start the at-bat.
In all, the Indians used patience at the plate in the seventh to go from trailing by two runs to winning the FAC road game against the Blue Lions by an 8-4 score, Wednesday. The wins moves HHS to 1-0 in the FAC and 4-3 overall.
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“We talk a lot about mentality at the plate and what you are trying to accomplish,” HHS head coach Matt Garman said. “At the end of the day, you are trying to get on base, and to do that you are trying to look for your pitch to hit until you have to hit his pitch. Our guys are real selective early in counts, and that is why we are looking for a fastball over the plate we can drive.
“If it is a curveball early in the count or a little bit outside, they are going to have faith that they’ve got the bat speed and the hand-eye coordination that if they get behind in the count, they are still going to get on base. We have a lot of guys who are really good at that.”
The seventh inning for the Indians began with a four-pitch walk by Luke Magulac, followed by walks by Brennen Priest and Brock Haines to load the bases with no outs as Washington was forced to make a pitching change.
Changing the pitcher amounted to the same results for Hillsboro with the Indians drawing a walk by Tanner Warner on six pitches to plate Magulac, making it a 3-2 score. Next, with the bases still loaded, Ryan Scott forced a six-pitch walk on a full count to bring Priest home, tying the score at 3-3.
Grant Crum followed by taking first base on an error, scoring Haines and Warner from third base, with HHS taking the lead at 5-3. Next was a ground ball hit by Jared Thompson to left field which scored Scott, while moving Crum to third base.
After the first two outs of the seventh were recorded, Magulac singled in his second at-bat of the inning for two RBI as both Crum and Thompson rounded the bases on the ball hit to right field, pushing the Indians’ lead to 8-3, as that hit was more than enough to seal the game as the final out by HHS was recorded in the ensuing at-bat.
“I thought we played well pitching and defensively,” Garman said. “We had some miscues on defense, but nothing major, and offensively we just couldn’t get anything going (until the seventh inning). Washington also made some nice plays on us, and you can do nothing but tip your cap to them and go on, but these guys are a tough group and have been in games like this before.
“They know how to put their nose down and grind, and if you keep grinding you’ll believe good things will happen, and they did.”
Magulac wasn’t just clutch at the plate, but he also entered the game as a relief pitcher for the bottom of the seventh inning and closed the door on the Blue Lions on their home field. The first batter in the bottom of the seventh for Washington reached on an infield error, and from there a walk was issued.
The Indians bounced back with a fielder’s choice for the first out of the inning, in a play where Ethan Humphries fielded the ball at third base and got the out at second on a throw to Crum. An error was committed in the infield in the next at-bat allowing the Blue Lions to add one final run to their side of the scoreboard.
Hillsboro ended the game with a ground out by Washington for the second out and the final out came on a called third strike thrown by Magulac.
For the game, the Indians totaled three hits and five errors, while the Blue Lions had eight hits and one error.
Washington (0-1, 0-4) led the game early with a run scored in the bottom of the second inning for a 1-0 lead. In the third, the Blue Lions tacked on two more runs for a 3-0 lead after three innings.
Hillsboro’s first run of the game came on a play at the plate as Crum rushed home, sliding headfirst, from third base on a passed ball with one out, then making it a 3-1 score in favor of Washington after the dust had settled.
At the plate for Hillsboro, Thompson (one run, one walk), Watson (one walk) and Magulac (one run, two RBI, two walks) each had one hit for Hillsboro.
Crum and Magulac led the Indians with two RBI each, while Scott, Thompson and Warner each had one RBI. Dylan Boone was hit by a pitch in the game, while Magulac and Thompson each had a stolen base. HHS left five runners on the bases for the game, while the Blue Lions had 10 runners left on base.
Warner was the winning pitcher for Hillsboro, going one inning of relief. In his relief outing, Warner allowed no runs, no hits and no walks.
Humphries was the starter for Hillsboro, pitching five innings. He allowed three runs (all earned) on eight hits and no walks, while finishing the game with four strikeouts in the no-decision.
Magulac, in his one inning of relief, allowed one run (unearned) on no hits and two walks. He finished with one strikeout.
“Our pitching again was absolutely fantastic tonight,” Garman said. “Ethan Humphries looked great all game long, Tanner Warner came in and did a fantastic job and Luke came in to throw well to close it out.”
Washington pitcher Bailey Roberts was charged with the loss, though he pitched six innings of one-hit baseball. Roberts in his start allowed four runs (all earned) on one hit and seven walks, while striking out four batters.
“We have to give their pitcher a lot of credit because he pitched an absolutely fantastic game and we still only got one hit off him, but he just ran out of gas,” Garman said. “Then we got a little lucky because they walked a couple guys in after they took him out, and then we finally got a couple timely hits we’ve been missing for three games now to add a little insurance.”
Washington was led at the plate by Ryan Schwartz, who was 2-for-3 with one run and one walk. Also with two hits for the Blue Lions was Roberts, as he finished 2-for-4.
Next for Hillsboro is an away FAC game on Friday, April 5 at Jackson with a start time of 5 p.m.
“It is good to open up in league with a road win for sure. We have Jackson on Friday, so it is another big road game for us and we have a lot of miles to travel there, so hopefully we’ll get some rest tomorrow and be ready to go Friday,” Garman said.
That assumption would have been wrong because the final inning ended up being the most important inning of their Frontier Athletic Conference opener with the Washington Blue Lions. The Indians drew five consecutive walks to start the inning, and the first nine batters of the inning forced a 1-0 count to start the at-bat.
In all, the Indians used patience at the plate in the seventh to go from trailing by two runs to winning the FAC road game against the Blue Lions by an 8-4 score, Wednesday. The wins moves HHS to 1-0 in the FAC and 4-3 overall.
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“We talk a lot about mentality at the plate and what you are trying to accomplish,” HHS head coach Matt Garman said. “At the end of the day, you are trying to get on base, and to do that you are trying to look for your pitch to hit until you have to hit his pitch. Our guys are real selective early in counts, and that is why we are looking for a fastball over the plate we can drive.
“If it is a curveball early in the count or a little bit outside, they are going to have faith that they’ve got the bat speed and the hand-eye coordination that if they get behind in the count, they are still going to get on base. We have a lot of guys who are really good at that.”
The seventh inning for the Indians began with a four-pitch walk by Luke Magulac, followed by walks by Brennen Priest and Brock Haines to load the bases with no outs as Washington was forced to make a pitching change.
Changing the pitcher amounted to the same results for Hillsboro with the Indians drawing a walk by Tanner Warner on six pitches to plate Magulac, making it a 3-2 score. Next, with the bases still loaded, Ryan Scott forced a six-pitch walk on a full count to bring Priest home, tying the score at 3-3.
Grant Crum followed by taking first base on an error, scoring Haines and Warner from third base, with HHS taking the lead at 5-3. Next was a ground ball hit by Jared Thompson to left field which scored Scott, while moving Crum to third base.
After the first two outs of the seventh were recorded, Magulac singled in his second at-bat of the inning for two RBI as both Crum and Thompson rounded the bases on the ball hit to right field, pushing the Indians’ lead to 8-3, as that hit was more than enough to seal the game as the final out by HHS was recorded in the ensuing at-bat.
“I thought we played well pitching and defensively,” Garman said. “We had some miscues on defense, but nothing major, and offensively we just couldn’t get anything going (until the seventh inning). Washington also made some nice plays on us, and you can do nothing but tip your cap to them and go on, but these guys are a tough group and have been in games like this before.
“They know how to put their nose down and grind, and if you keep grinding you’ll believe good things will happen, and they did.”
Magulac wasn’t just clutch at the plate, but he also entered the game as a relief pitcher for the bottom of the seventh inning and closed the door on the Blue Lions on their home field. The first batter in the bottom of the seventh for Washington reached on an infield error, and from there a walk was issued.
The Indians bounced back with a fielder’s choice for the first out of the inning, in a play where Ethan Humphries fielded the ball at third base and got the out at second on a throw to Crum. An error was committed in the infield in the next at-bat allowing the Blue Lions to add one final run to their side of the scoreboard.
Hillsboro ended the game with a ground out by Washington for the second out and the final out came on a called third strike thrown by Magulac.
For the game, the Indians totaled three hits and five errors, while the Blue Lions had eight hits and one error.
Washington (0-1, 0-4) led the game early with a run scored in the bottom of the second inning for a 1-0 lead. In the third, the Blue Lions tacked on two more runs for a 3-0 lead after three innings.
Hillsboro’s first run of the game came on a play at the plate as Crum rushed home, sliding headfirst, from third base on a passed ball with one out, then making it a 3-1 score in favor of Washington after the dust had settled.
At the plate for Hillsboro, Thompson (one run, one walk), Watson (one walk) and Magulac (one run, two RBI, two walks) each had one hit for Hillsboro.
Crum and Magulac led the Indians with two RBI each, while Scott, Thompson and Warner each had one RBI. Dylan Boone was hit by a pitch in the game, while Magulac and Thompson each had a stolen base. HHS left five runners on the bases for the game, while the Blue Lions had 10 runners left on base.
Warner was the winning pitcher for Hillsboro, going one inning of relief. In his relief outing, Warner allowed no runs, no hits and no walks.
Humphries was the starter for Hillsboro, pitching five innings. He allowed three runs (all earned) on eight hits and no walks, while finishing the game with four strikeouts in the no-decision.
Magulac, in his one inning of relief, allowed one run (unearned) on no hits and two walks. He finished with one strikeout.
“Our pitching again was absolutely fantastic tonight,” Garman said. “Ethan Humphries looked great all game long, Tanner Warner came in and did a fantastic job and Luke came in to throw well to close it out.”
Washington pitcher Bailey Roberts was charged with the loss, though he pitched six innings of one-hit baseball. Roberts in his start allowed four runs (all earned) on one hit and seven walks, while striking out four batters.
“We have to give their pitcher a lot of credit because he pitched an absolutely fantastic game and we still only got one hit off him, but he just ran out of gas,” Garman said. “Then we got a little lucky because they walked a couple guys in after they took him out, and then we finally got a couple timely hits we’ve been missing for three games now to add a little insurance.”
Washington was led at the plate by Ryan Schwartz, who was 2-for-3 with one run and one walk. Also with two hits for the Blue Lions was Roberts, as he finished 2-for-4.
Next for Hillsboro is an away FAC game on Friday, April 5 at Jackson with a start time of 5 p.m.
“It is good to open up in league with a road win for sure. We have Jackson on Friday, so it is another big road game for us and we have a lot of miles to travel there, so hopefully we’ll get some rest tomorrow and be ready to go Friday,” Garman said.