Hillsboro Post 129 opens Wooden Bat Tournament with shutout loss to Waverly
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By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
The annual American Legion Post 129 Wooden Bat Tournament at Richard Shaffer Park got off to a rocky start for the host team. The Post 129 club was unable to cross home plate and in the process lost the opener by a 7-0 score to Waverly Post 142.
On the scoreboard at Frank "Squeak" Collins Field, Waverly Post 142 was the home team, and they didn't wait long to fill their side with runs, with five of their seven runs crossing home plate in the second inning.
Post 142 followed that with two more runs in the third.
"They (Waverly) had one big inning, and they had one hard-hit ball the entire game," Post 129 head coach Scott Morgan said. "We hit the ball harder than they did, but theirs found holes and ours didn't.
"We didn't strike out that many times, and we put the ball in play. Eventually, they will turn into hits. With wooden bats, you have to get runners on especially because you won't see too many hit over the fence."
[[In-content Ad]]The loss moves Hillsboro to 4-13 on the summer.
Hillsboro for the game totaled four hits with Wyatt Crothers, Joey Wilson, Stephen Pappas and Ty Crum all hitting singles. Crothers was also hit by a pitch. In his past two games, Crum has four hits in four at-bats.
Zach Cox, Nick Bush and Gage Carraher each forced a walk.
The loss was charged to Wilson, who pitched the first five innings, finishing with five strikeouts. Wilson allowed all seven runs, but just two were earned as Hillsboro committed multiple errors in the second inning.
For the game, Wilson walked three and allowed four hits.
"Joey had some tough luck in the second inning, and like I said earlier they didn't hit the ball hard off him," Morgan said. "We made a couple mistakes behind him that didn't help him out any. He pitched a good game.
"We'll be fine pitching-wise, but we have to hit the baseball. We've been coming around lately, and hopefully (Saturday) we'll pick things back up."
On Saturday, Hillsboro will face the Washington C.H. Post 25 Aces at 9 a.m., followed by a game at 11:30 a.m. against Troy. On Sunday, Post 129 will take on Findlay at 2 p.m.
On the scoreboard at Frank "Squeak" Collins Field, Waverly Post 142 was the home team, and they didn't wait long to fill their side with runs, with five of their seven runs crossing home plate in the second inning.
Post 142 followed that with two more runs in the third.
"They (Waverly) had one big inning, and they had one hard-hit ball the entire game," Post 129 head coach Scott Morgan said. "We hit the ball harder than they did, but theirs found holes and ours didn't.
"We didn't strike out that many times, and we put the ball in play. Eventually, they will turn into hits. With wooden bats, you have to get runners on especially because you won't see too many hit over the fence."
[[In-content Ad]]The loss moves Hillsboro to 4-13 on the summer.
Hillsboro for the game totaled four hits with Wyatt Crothers, Joey Wilson, Stephen Pappas and Ty Crum all hitting singles. Crothers was also hit by a pitch. In his past two games, Crum has four hits in four at-bats.
Zach Cox, Nick Bush and Gage Carraher each forced a walk.
The loss was charged to Wilson, who pitched the first five innings, finishing with five strikeouts. Wilson allowed all seven runs, but just two were earned as Hillsboro committed multiple errors in the second inning.
For the game, Wilson walked three and allowed four hits.
"Joey had some tough luck in the second inning, and like I said earlier they didn't hit the ball hard off him," Morgan said. "We made a couple mistakes behind him that didn't help him out any. He pitched a good game.
"We'll be fine pitching-wise, but we have to hit the baseball. We've been coming around lately, and hopefully (Saturday) we'll pick things back up."
On Saturday, Hillsboro will face the Washington C.H. Post 25 Aces at 9 a.m., followed by a game at 11:30 a.m. against Troy. On Sunday, Post 129 will take on Findlay at 2 p.m.