Tigers take down Indians in rain-shortened FAC contest

GREENFIELD — On a Monday evening where the weather went from overcast to rain, the McClain Tigers were able to defend their home diamond to gain what became a rain-shortened five-inning win over rival Hillsboro, 8-4 at Tom Hixson Field inside of John Mitchell Memorial Park.

The game saw both Highland County teams who are members of the Frontier Athletic Conference battle on the baseball diamond, where the Tigers totaled 10 hits and the Indians collected seven hits. 

“I’m really proud of my group. They played two really tough games last week against Jackson, and I really thought we deserved a victory in one of those two games,” McClain head coach Donnie Ary said. “The guys came out tonight and didn’t let that hold them back, and we just started hitting the ball from the get-go. From the top of the lineup to the bottom of the lineup, everybody was getting in on it. 

“Some guys who haven’t been hitting her lately got some shots in. Matthew [Cummins] had a big two-RBI single, and just everybody was getting on board. That’s one thing this team has done this year, and that’s hit the ball better, and that’s paired with some great pitching that we've had all year, and our defense has been solid as well.”

Each team committed two errors, but it was the Tigers (3-4, 11-6) striking first with a two-run bottom of the first inning where the Tigers began their offense with Connor Chandler hitting a lead-off single to left field. Next, the Tigers took a 1-0 lead when Hunter Peabody hit a double to centerfield on a 0-1 count with Chandler scoring on the throw back to the infield for the 1-0 lead. 

Kolton Lamb followed with a single to shortstop, and from there it was Peabody scoring a run on an error during the ensuing at-bat for a 2-0 lead. 

The Indians (3-4, 8-8) answered with two runs of their own as Brody Kelch led off the inning with a single on a ground ball hit to short. Following two outs, which also included Kelch moving to second base on a passed ball, Mason Dumpert had a hard-hit single to left field, which allowed Kelch to score a run. 

The Indians tied the score at 2-2 as Dumpert stole second and scored a run on an error in the infield. 

The score didn’t stay tied for long as the Tigers scored two runs with two outs, beginning with Peabody smashing a double to left field to plate Connor Chandler, and in the same sequence of events, Kamden Penwell scored a run on an errant throw for a 4-2 lead. 

MHS added to their lead in the same inning with Lamb hitting a single to left field, knocking in Peabody from third for the 5-2 advantage. 

The inning continued with Carson Chandler hitting a single to centerfield, and in the ensuing at-bat, Easton Ary drew a walk. Then came Matthew Cummins crushing a single to right field, scoring Carson Chandler and Lamb to score for a 7-2 lead.

Hillsboro scored a third run in the game in the top of the third with Jack Cornele reaching first base via error. Next, Zack Brown singled to right field, scoring Cornele for a 7-3 score. In the top of the fifth, Brown singled to right field, and he eventually scored a run following a single by Luke Holland, making it a three-run deficit for the Indians. 

McClain scored their final run — before the lightning arrived in the bottom of the fifth — with an Eli Douglas double to centerfield, scoring Cummins for the final 8-4 score. 

The game went one batter into the bottom of the sixth, as MHS retired the Indians in order in the top of the sixth before the game was eventually called due to inclement weather in Greenfield. 

On the mound, Ary pitched the complete game where he allowed one earned run on seven hits and one walk with nine strikeouts. Ary finished with 98 pitches, 65 for strikes. 

“Easton seems to be that way,” Coach Ary said when asked if Easton improved as the game went on. “He gets stronger throughout the game. He starts throwing harder, and his slider starts breaking off. He really had his slider working, and that really helped. He had nine strikeouts, only one earned run, and I’m really proud of him. He barreled through and didn't always have his best stuff tonight with his fastball missing spots, but he was able to locate the slider and was always grinding through it and never giving up.”

Hillsboro’s pitching saw Brady Juillerat charged with the loss as he pitched five innings where he allowed two earned runs on 10 hits and two walks with two strikeouts. Nate Lane started pitching in the sixth, as the game was called after he threw three pitches. 

Three McClain players had two hits apiece, as they were Peabody, Lamb and Douglas. Peabody was 2-for-2 with two doubles, two runs, one HBP, a steal and three RBI. Lamb went 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI. Douglas ended the game at 2-for-3 with a double and one RBI. 

Connor Chandler finished 1-for-3 with two runs, while Carson Chandler was 1-for-3 with a run. Ary was 1-for-2 with one walk at the plate. Cummins went 1-for-3 with a steal. Kamden Penwell finished with one run, a walk and a hit by pitch. 

“We set a lot of goals after last year with only two FAC wins last year,” Ary said. “We have three FAC wins this year, and obviously we want a few of those back we think we could have had, but the guys came out and really wanted to prove something in the FAC this year, and I think they have. We got some respect from a lot of the coaches, and the boys are just playing really hard and I’m proud of them.

“It is always good to get a win over your county rival and Coach (Ben) Miller over there. I have a lot of respect for him, and he has a great baseball team. That is a really good ball club over there, and we’ll see them again Wednesday at their place, and it is always a friendly rivalry.”

Hillsboro’s hit leaders were Brown and Kelch. Brown went 2-for-3 with a run, two steals and one RBI. Kelch finished 2-for-3 with a run and a steal. 

Cornele went 1-for-3 with a run and one steal. Teammate Luke Holland was 1-for-3 with one RBI. Dumpert finished the game at 1-for-3 with a run and one RBI, plus he added a steal. Von Steward collected a steal for the Indians. 

Next for McClain is a game at VA Memorial Stadium on Tuesday, April 28 against the Waverly Tigers at 4:30 p.m. in Chillicothe. 

Next for HHS is a FAC game Wednesday, April 29 at home against the McClain Tigers at 5 p.m. 

BOX SCORE
HHS    021 01x x — 4 7 2 
MHS    250 01x x — 8 10 2