Hillsboro pulls away in 6th inning in win over McClain
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
Both the Hillsboro Indians and the McClain Tigers were able to get runners in scoring position on Tuesday night at Shaffer Park in Hillsboro, and the Frontier Athletic Conference game was just a difference of three runs through the first five innings. The sixth inning, however, was the difference maker for the host Indians, as their four runs in that inning allowed them to put the game basically out of reach, defeating their Highland County counterpart McClain, 8-1 at Shaffer Park.
The Indians (10-11) led by a 4-1 score after the fifth inning, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first and two more in the third, while McClain scored their lone run in the third inning as well. Then came the strong bottom of the sixth inning where Hillsboro had Payton Bell (3-for-3, one walk, three runs) gain a one-out full-count single, and next was Kelton Anderson reaching the bases after being hit by a pitch. From there, Ethan Watson doubled and Jared Thompson was hit by a pitch.
[[In-content Ad]]
Next was Luke Magulac hitting a single, and Hayden Haines (2-for-4) also hit a single for the Indians in the inning. Scoring runs for HHS in the sixth were Bell, Anderson and Thompson to make it the eventual final score of 8-1.
“I thought offensively we did a good job all game,” Hillsboro head coach Matt Garman said. “We put the ball in play, we didn’t swing at bad pitches and we had runners in scoring position almost every inning, and you have to credit McClain. Their defense made plays when they had to with runners on, but the last inning we got a couple balls to fall for a couple insurance runs.
“On the other side of the ball, (McClain) put a lot of pressure on us, and there weren’t many innings where they were 1-2-3. Every inning, teams had runners on and the innings were kind of long, and even though they only scored one run, they had runners on first and second against us almost every inning. They really made us work defensively.”
Getting there was a little tougher for the Indians as McClain battled tough but had trouble getting runners around the bases for runs.
Though the game wasn’t won with ease, the Indians were first to score runs as they had Mason Stanley and Bell score in the first inning as Stanley was walked to lead off the game, and he scored a run after Watson was walked with the bases loaded. Bell scored on a fly ball hit to the outfield by Thompson.
McClain cut the Indians’ lead in half with a run scored in the top of the third, with Cody Pollock initially reaching the bases on a walk and eventually scoring his run on an infield error for a 2-1 deficit.
“Our kids hit the ball well. I told them that today was a test for me to see how we came back after a nice win the day before (vs. Washington), and we responded well,” McClain head coach Rich Bunner said. “We played well, we were in the game, and as I told the kids, our level of play is higher now than what it was a week ago, and we are playing better as a team.
“Hillsboro has a good pitcher (Magulac), and he threw hard and it took us a couple innings to adjust to him. We did get some runners on, and a couple unfortunate, bang-bang plays and calls that didn’t go our way, but you have that. We had runners in scoring position, but we just couldn’t get the big hit.”
Hillsboro answered with a two-run third inning as Bell and Anderson both rounded the bases for runs, increasing the HHS lead to 4-1.
For the game, the Indians totaled nine hits and forced six walks and struck out just twice in 34 plate appearances (28 at-bats). The Tigers totaled six hits, two walks and struck out nine times.
Magulac was the winning pitcher, going six innings on the mound. He allowed one run (unearned) on six hits and two walks, while collecting eight strikeouts in the win. Five of Magulac’s eight strikeouts came in the first two innings, including three in the first inning.
Stanley pitched the seventh inning in relief for the Indians, retiring all three batters faced.
The Tigers had two players gain two hits in the FAC showdown as Garrison Banks was 2-for-3 with a walk and Evan Hutchinson was 2-for-3.
Hillsboro also celebrated senior night with five seniors being honored in four-year players Payton Bell, Justin Scott, Mason Stanley and Kelton Anderson and two-year player Phillip Mycroft.
“All of them played well tonight, and each of them made some nice plays,” Garman said.
HHS will host New Richmond on Thursday and will play at Zane Trace on Friday to wrap up the regular season.
The Indians (10-11) led by a 4-1 score after the fifth inning, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first and two more in the third, while McClain scored their lone run in the third inning as well. Then came the strong bottom of the sixth inning where Hillsboro had Payton Bell (3-for-3, one walk, three runs) gain a one-out full-count single, and next was Kelton Anderson reaching the bases after being hit by a pitch. From there, Ethan Watson doubled and Jared Thompson was hit by a pitch.
[[In-content Ad]]
Next was Luke Magulac hitting a single, and Hayden Haines (2-for-4) also hit a single for the Indians in the inning. Scoring runs for HHS in the sixth were Bell, Anderson and Thompson to make it the eventual final score of 8-1.
“I thought offensively we did a good job all game,” Hillsboro head coach Matt Garman said. “We put the ball in play, we didn’t swing at bad pitches and we had runners in scoring position almost every inning, and you have to credit McClain. Their defense made plays when they had to with runners on, but the last inning we got a couple balls to fall for a couple insurance runs.
“On the other side of the ball, (McClain) put a lot of pressure on us, and there weren’t many innings where they were 1-2-3. Every inning, teams had runners on and the innings were kind of long, and even though they only scored one run, they had runners on first and second against us almost every inning. They really made us work defensively.”
Getting there was a little tougher for the Indians as McClain battled tough but had trouble getting runners around the bases for runs.
Though the game wasn’t won with ease, the Indians were first to score runs as they had Mason Stanley and Bell score in the first inning as Stanley was walked to lead off the game, and he scored a run after Watson was walked with the bases loaded. Bell scored on a fly ball hit to the outfield by Thompson.
McClain cut the Indians’ lead in half with a run scored in the top of the third, with Cody Pollock initially reaching the bases on a walk and eventually scoring his run on an infield error for a 2-1 deficit.
“Our kids hit the ball well. I told them that today was a test for me to see how we came back after a nice win the day before (vs. Washington), and we responded well,” McClain head coach Rich Bunner said. “We played well, we were in the game, and as I told the kids, our level of play is higher now than what it was a week ago, and we are playing better as a team.
“Hillsboro has a good pitcher (Magulac), and he threw hard and it took us a couple innings to adjust to him. We did get some runners on, and a couple unfortunate, bang-bang plays and calls that didn’t go our way, but you have that. We had runners in scoring position, but we just couldn’t get the big hit.”
Hillsboro answered with a two-run third inning as Bell and Anderson both rounded the bases for runs, increasing the HHS lead to 4-1.
For the game, the Indians totaled nine hits and forced six walks and struck out just twice in 34 plate appearances (28 at-bats). The Tigers totaled six hits, two walks and struck out nine times.
Magulac was the winning pitcher, going six innings on the mound. He allowed one run (unearned) on six hits and two walks, while collecting eight strikeouts in the win. Five of Magulac’s eight strikeouts came in the first two innings, including three in the first inning.
Stanley pitched the seventh inning in relief for the Indians, retiring all three batters faced.
The Tigers had two players gain two hits in the FAC showdown as Garrison Banks was 2-for-3 with a walk and Evan Hutchinson was 2-for-3.
Hillsboro also celebrated senior night with five seniors being honored in four-year players Payton Bell, Justin Scott, Mason Stanley and Kelton Anderson and two-year player Phillip Mycroft.
“All of them played well tonight, and each of them made some nice plays,” Garman said.
HHS will host New Richmond on Thursday and will play at Zane Trace on Friday to wrap up the regular season.