Tigers baseball shuts out Paint Valley
The McClain Tigers have opened the 2023 baseball season with four consecutive wins — a feat that hasn’t occurred for McClain baseball in over a decade — as they defeated the Paint Valley Bearcats against PVHS by a 4-0 score on Saturday, April 1.
MHS was led on the mound by Haydon Hice, who in seven innings allowed no runs on two hits and one walk, while also finishing with 11 strikeouts. Hice threw 100 pitches, 73 for strikes, facing 24 batters.
Offensively, the Tigers scored three runs in the first inning and one run in the fifth for their four-run total. As a team, MHS collected eight hits and committed one error.
Kaden Penwell finished 2-for-2 at the plate with a double, steal, a walk and two runs. He was also hit by a pitch.
Jayden Allison was 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI. Cohen Six finished 2-for-3 with one RBI.
Andrew Potts was 1-for-3 with a run and one RBI. Hice for McClain went 1-for-2 with an RBI and a walk. Connor McCune finished with two walks.
The win put the Tigers at 4-0 overall.
On Monday (April 3), the Tigers lost their first game of the season as they traveled to VA Memorial Stadium and lost to the Lucasville Valley Indians by a 9-0 score, as Valley is the defending district champions.
The Tigers had no hits in their first loss of the season, while Valley totaled 10 hits. McClain had two walks forced by Seth Weller and Gavin Warren.
Penwell was charged with the loss, as he pitched 4.2 innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on four hits and two walks. He finished with four strikeouts. Penwell threw 81 pitches, 45 for strikes, all while facing 22 batters.
McCune pitched 2.1 innings, where he allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits and one walk.
Next for McClain is a Frontier Athletic Conference opener on Wednesday, April 5, as they are scheduled to face the Miami Trace Panthers at 5 p.m. at Mitchell Park in Greenfield.