Indians defend home field in win over Miami Trace
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HILLSBORO — One day following a tough road defeat, the Hillsboro Indians returned to the diamond, dusted themselves off and defended their home field against the visiting Miami Trace Panthers, winning their South Central Ohio League showdown by a 8-0 score.
The Wednesday night win saw the Indians use not only their offensive prowess at the plate, but they also had shutout pitching from Cayse Cameron and defense that kept that shutout in place, including a play at first base by Kelton Anderson where he scooped up a hard line drive, robbing the Panthers of a sure hit to begin the top of the fifth inning.
It was pitching and plays like that which the Indians used to put a “W” in the win column in their third game in as many days, a stretch that also included them defeating the Washington Blue Lions and falling to the Wilmington Hurricane. The win moves the Indians to 12-4 overall, 5-4 in the SCOL.
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“We started this week off looking at back-to-back-to-back league games, and no matter who you are, that is a tough order,” HHS head coach Matt Garman said. “We got behind at Washington Court House and came back to win that, and that was a real gritty win for us. We didn’t have our best game against Wilmington Tuesday night, and we looked bad.
“To bounce back from the way we looked (Tuesday) to how we played in this game, that makes this even more sweet.”
The score was tied at zero during the first two innings, but once the bottom of the third arrived, the Tribe really began to hit the ball hard, sending nine batters to the plate and scoring five runs for a 5-0 lead once the inning was completed.
“The first time at the plate, we looked bad, and their pitcher was dealing,” Garman said. “We went to school, learned and the second time through we got to him. We got to him pretty quick, and this was a good, all-around game mentally.
“We showed up, I put the pressure on the guys and told them this was a big game. We know we are playing for a one, two or three seed against Miami Trace, so this win was big. Our guys mentally locked into this game from start to finish, and I think this was one of our best games of the year, if not the best. We bounced back from a couple errors (Wednesday) and did a nice job.”
The inning began with Justin Scott hitting a single then after taking second base and Ethan Watson taking first on a hit by pitch, Mason Stanley advanced both runners after he too was hit by a pitch. Still with two outs, Jonah Humphries reached first on a fielder’s choice, scoring Scott, and all the runners were safe.
Scott finished 2-for-4 at the plate, while also having two hits for HHS was Payton Bell at 2-for-4.
From there, Watson scored on a passed ball, and Hunter Chain batted in Stanley for the third run of the game. Humphries scored on a ground out by Brian Smith, and Chain made it a 5-0 advantage for the Indians after he rounded the bases on a two-out double by Cameron. Cameron finished 1-for-3 and was hit by a pitch. Chain and Smith also ended the game with one hit each.
The Indians in the fourth inning added two more runs with Scott and Anderson touching home plate. Scott opened the inning with a single, followed by Anderson drawing a walk. Scott stole third base, and Anderson went to second on the throw from the outfield following a fly ball that scored Scott. Anderson eventually scored his run on an infield error, allowing him to race home from third base.
HHS scored one final run in the bottom of the sixth inning with Humphries taking first base on a lead-off walk. Next, Humphries moved to second on a ground ball out at first base. Humphries scored on a one-out single by Smith to complete the scoring for the Indians.
Cameron pitched excellent on the mound. In seven innings, he not only allowed no runs against the 28 batters he faced, he allowed just four hits and walked none in the win. As the HHS starting pitcher, Cameron threw 84 pitches and also hit three batters in the win.
“Cayse Cameron does what he does on the mound, and he pitched well,” Garman said. “He got into a couple jams early and had runners in scoring position with less than two outs, and he just got better when he gets into those type of situations. He got out of both of these situations in the first and second innings with no damage.”
The Panthers and Indians split the season series, as MT defeated the Indians, 5-2 earlier this season at MTHS.
Also for the Indians, they totaled seven hits, three walks (Anderson drew two of them) and HHS batters were hit by a pitch three times (Stanley, Cameron and Watson).
Next for the Indians is a trip to Ross County as they finish the remainder of their first game with the Chillicothe Cavaliers, then play their scheduled road SCOL game against the Cavs as well.
The Wednesday night win saw the Indians use not only their offensive prowess at the plate, but they also had shutout pitching from Cayse Cameron and defense that kept that shutout in place, including a play at first base by Kelton Anderson where he scooped up a hard line drive, robbing the Panthers of a sure hit to begin the top of the fifth inning.
It was pitching and plays like that which the Indians used to put a “W” in the win column in their third game in as many days, a stretch that also included them defeating the Washington Blue Lions and falling to the Wilmington Hurricane. The win moves the Indians to 12-4 overall, 5-4 in the SCOL.
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“We started this week off looking at back-to-back-to-back league games, and no matter who you are, that is a tough order,” HHS head coach Matt Garman said. “We got behind at Washington Court House and came back to win that, and that was a real gritty win for us. We didn’t have our best game against Wilmington Tuesday night, and we looked bad.
“To bounce back from the way we looked (Tuesday) to how we played in this game, that makes this even more sweet.”
The score was tied at zero during the first two innings, but once the bottom of the third arrived, the Tribe really began to hit the ball hard, sending nine batters to the plate and scoring five runs for a 5-0 lead once the inning was completed.
“The first time at the plate, we looked bad, and their pitcher was dealing,” Garman said. “We went to school, learned and the second time through we got to him. We got to him pretty quick, and this was a good, all-around game mentally.
“We showed up, I put the pressure on the guys and told them this was a big game. We know we are playing for a one, two or three seed against Miami Trace, so this win was big. Our guys mentally locked into this game from start to finish, and I think this was one of our best games of the year, if not the best. We bounced back from a couple errors (Wednesday) and did a nice job.”
The inning began with Justin Scott hitting a single then after taking second base and Ethan Watson taking first on a hit by pitch, Mason Stanley advanced both runners after he too was hit by a pitch. Still with two outs, Jonah Humphries reached first on a fielder’s choice, scoring Scott, and all the runners were safe.
Scott finished 2-for-4 at the plate, while also having two hits for HHS was Payton Bell at 2-for-4.
From there, Watson scored on a passed ball, and Hunter Chain batted in Stanley for the third run of the game. Humphries scored on a ground out by Brian Smith, and Chain made it a 5-0 advantage for the Indians after he rounded the bases on a two-out double by Cameron. Cameron finished 1-for-3 and was hit by a pitch. Chain and Smith also ended the game with one hit each.
The Indians in the fourth inning added two more runs with Scott and Anderson touching home plate. Scott opened the inning with a single, followed by Anderson drawing a walk. Scott stole third base, and Anderson went to second on the throw from the outfield following a fly ball that scored Scott. Anderson eventually scored his run on an infield error, allowing him to race home from third base.
HHS scored one final run in the bottom of the sixth inning with Humphries taking first base on a lead-off walk. Next, Humphries moved to second on a ground ball out at first base. Humphries scored on a one-out single by Smith to complete the scoring for the Indians.
Cameron pitched excellent on the mound. In seven innings, he not only allowed no runs against the 28 batters he faced, he allowed just four hits and walked none in the win. As the HHS starting pitcher, Cameron threw 84 pitches and also hit three batters in the win.
“Cayse Cameron does what he does on the mound, and he pitched well,” Garman said. “He got into a couple jams early and had runners in scoring position with less than two outs, and he just got better when he gets into those type of situations. He got out of both of these situations in the first and second innings with no damage.”
The Panthers and Indians split the season series, as MT defeated the Indians, 5-2 earlier this season at MTHS.
Also for the Indians, they totaled seven hits, three walks (Anderson drew two of them) and HHS batters were hit by a pitch three times (Stanley, Cameron and Watson).
Next for the Indians is a trip to Ross County as they finish the remainder of their first game with the Chillicothe Cavaliers, then play their scheduled road SCOL game against the Cavs as well.