McClain gains 1st FAC win of season; shuts out rival Hillsboro 

GREENFIELD — The second round of the Highland County rivalry belonged to the McClain Tigers. Tuesday night at John Mitchell Park at Nixon Field, the McClain Tigers earned a Frontier Athletic Conference victory behind a second inning that saw them jump ahead of the visiting Hillsboro Indians, leading to a 4-0 shutout win.

The Tigers scored three runs in the second inning, then added another run in the bottom of the third, securing the FAC win while also avenging a loss to the Indians earlier in the season.

Both teams left runners on the bases in the first inning with HHS having two runners on with one out, but the Tigers answered with a popup and a groundout to keep the Indians runners stranded on the cold and windy May evening.

The bottom of the first saw two McClain batters take the bases to start the inning on a walk and error, but three consecutive outs with a strikeout, infield fly and a popup out saw McClain leave two runners stranded as well.

Travis Ross led off the top of the second with a double for the Indians, but he too was left on the bases as McClain settled down and forced three straight outs with a fly ball to centerfield, a strikeout and a groundout, keeping the score at 0-0.

The game didn’t stay scoreless in the bottom of the second as it was McClain’s turn to change the outlook of the game, scoring three runs and taking a 3-0 lead.

First was a lead-off single by Gavin Warren with the ball being hit to right field, followed by two straight outs via strikeout and a ground ball. Before the first out — the strikeout — Warren took second on a wild pitch and eventually landed at third base on the groundout.

With two outs on the McClain scoreboard, Owen Sykes hit a ball past the shortstop for the RBI, scoring Warren for the 1-0 lead. Sykes took second base off a two-out single from Seth Weller of McClain.

The inning continued and McClain’s lead increased by two more runs with Sykes moving to third base and Weller taking second on a passed ball. In the same at-bat, Haydon Hice for the Tigers (on a 2-1 count) reached first base on an infield error, allowing both McClain runners to round the bases and score two runs for the 3-0 advantage.

After the Indians left another runner on the bases in the top of the third, McClain scored the final run of the game with Tanner Dalton hitting a two-out single, scoring Andrew Potts (who hit a one-out single) for the final four-run lead.

HHS eventually left four more runners on the bases in the final four innings, as McClain gained the victory.

In all, the Indians totaled six hits and had two errors, while the Tigers finished with seven hits and one error.

Hice was the winning pitcher for the Tigers, pitching all seven innings in the win. Hice allowed no runs on six hits and one walk, while collecting five strikeouts, throwing 82 pitches, 63 for strikes, and facing 29 batters.

The loss went to Garet Thompson, who in four innings allowed four runs (two earned) on five hits and one walk. He totaled two strikeouts as he threw 66 pitches, 41 for strikes, all while facing 20 batters.

Ashton Clemons finished with two innings of relief, allowing no runs on two hits and no walks. He threw 17 pitches, 12 for strikes, facing seven batters.

For the victorious Tigers, Potts was 2-for-3 with one run and two steals. Sykes also finished with two hits, going 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI. Also for MHS, Weller was 1-for-2 with a run and a walk, Warren was 1-for-3 with a run and Dalton finished 1-for-3 with a run and RBI.

Hillsboro’s six hits included Korbin Adams going 2-for-4, while Braydon Hunter, Ross, Walker Pence and Clemons each had one hit with Ross and Clemons’ hits being doubles. Bryce Parsons forced a walk in the loss. Adams (two) and Pence each had stolen bases for the Indians.

The win lifts the Tigers to 9-11-1 overall (1-9 FAC), while the Indians move to 4-14 overall this season (2-7 FAC).

BOX SCORE
HHS    000 000 0 - 0 6 2
MHS    031 000 x - 4 7 1