Post 129 falls to Toledo and Circleville in Jim Jadwin Memorial Tournament
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
CHILLICOTHE — "Focus" has been the word of the past few games for the Hillsboro Post 129 baseball team … that was until two games on Thursday as head coach Ritchie Butler said focus was what his team lacked as Post 129 dropped two games at Unioto High School in the opening day of the inaugural Jim Jadwin Memorial Tournament.
The losses came by a 5-3 score to Toledo (Gold) Post 335 and Circleville Post 134 by a 17-6 score. The losses broke a five-game winning streak by Hillsboro and drops them to 10-14 overall as Hillsboro will be back on the field Friday when they play at VA Memorial Stadium at 10:30 a.m. against Piqua Post 184, then again at 6 p.m. on against Zanesville Post 29 at UHS.
"The first game was a close ball game, but a couple mistakes allowed them to take the lead," Butler said. "Our word this week, since last Saturday, has been 'focus,' and we had a few wins in a row, but (Thursday) we weren't focused in the least bit."
In their opening game on Thursday against Toledo (Post 335), Hillsboro trailed 1-0 midway through the third but came back in the bottom of the inning to score three times for a two-run advantage at 3-1 with runs scored by Matt Carey, Bryce Bean and Nathaniel Miller.
Carey led off the bottom of the third with a walk, went to second base on a bunt base hit by Bean and went to third on the throw to first as Bean was safe. Corey Walker hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield, scoring Carey from third for a 1-1 tied score.
With two outs, Miller was hit by a pitch (on an 0-2 count), and both Bean and Miller scored on a double blasted to left-centerfield by Tyler Griego for a 3-1 lead as Miller raced around the bases, scoring from first base and Bean scoring from second.
The three-run inning by Hillsboro was all the runs they had in the tank against Toledo; the problem was Toledo was far from finished adding runs to their side as they compiled a four-run fourth inning for a 5-3 lead, which proved to be the final score of the game. In the fourth, Toledo scored with two hits, three walks, a sacrifice fly and an error by the Post 129 infield.
From the fourth through seventh innings, Post 129 had just two base runners, one coming on a walk (Matt Carey) and one on a hit batter (Paul Snyder) as the team finished with two hits on the day. For the game, Post 129 forced three walks.
The loss was charged to starting pitcher Joey Wilson, with Dustin Taylor entering the game in the top of the fourth in relief with one out with the score at the time being 4-3. Wilson finished with two strikeouts, as of the five runs allowed, three were unearned. Taylor had one strikeout.
"All day long, we had problems finding the strike zone, and we gave them runners and extra bases in the infield," Butler said. "It all came down to mistakes in the infield, and we couldn't throw strikes."
Then came game two, and it was far from the best effort by the Post 129 team this summer, as they cut the Circleville lead to as low as one run at 4-3.
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The one-run deficit (4-3) after three innings didn't last long as Circleville Post 134 responded with a two-run fourth, followed by a three-run fifth (including a home run by Christopher Cline), two-run sixth and five-run seventh for their 17 total runs.
"Teams were patient against us at the plate, forcing us to throw the ball in the middle of the plate on 3-1 and 3-0 counts," Butler said. "Circleville is a good hitting team and forced us to throw it down the heart of the plate."
As for Hillsboro, their runs came in the bottom of the third with three run, and again they scored three runs in the seventh.
As Hillsboro trailed 4-0 midway through the third, they responded with three runs of their own for the aforementioned 4-3 deficit.
Austin Merkle led off the bottom of the third inning with a walk, followed by Corey Walker reaching first on an infield error on the Circleville infield misplayed a bunt. Snyder battled in both runners with a double, as the ball traveled to the centerfield fence for two RBIs.
Derek Peters, with two outs, doubled home Snyder with a ball hit over the left-centerfield wall for a ground rule double. Hillsboro left two runners stranded at second and third on a ground out to end the inning.
Peters led Post 129 at the plate, going 3-for-4 with one run and three RBIs.
With the game well out of reach, Hillsboro scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh with Walker, Snyder and Peters all crossing home plate. With two outs, Peters batted in Walker and Snyder with a hit to right field, while Peters scored on a single by Zach Docter.
Against Circleville, Post 129 finished with nine hits and six walks. Besides Peters' three hits, Snyder followed with two hits and two runs, and Docter also totaled two hits. Stephen Pappas and Taylor Smucker each forced two walks, while Joey Wilson and Merkle each had one walk.
The pitching loss was charged to Casey Jordan with Taylor and Kyle Carson pitching in relief.
BOX SCORE
vs. Toledo Post 335
T 001 400 0 — 5 7 2
H 003 000 0 — 3 2 3
- - -
BOX SCORE
vs. Circleville Post 134
C 004 332 5 — 17 16 1
H 003 000 3 — 6 9 4
The losses came by a 5-3 score to Toledo (Gold) Post 335 and Circleville Post 134 by a 17-6 score. The losses broke a five-game winning streak by Hillsboro and drops them to 10-14 overall as Hillsboro will be back on the field Friday when they play at VA Memorial Stadium at 10:30 a.m. against Piqua Post 184, then again at 6 p.m. on against Zanesville Post 29 at UHS.
"The first game was a close ball game, but a couple mistakes allowed them to take the lead," Butler said. "Our word this week, since last Saturday, has been 'focus,' and we had a few wins in a row, but (Thursday) we weren't focused in the least bit."
In their opening game on Thursday against Toledo (Post 335), Hillsboro trailed 1-0 midway through the third but came back in the bottom of the inning to score three times for a two-run advantage at 3-1 with runs scored by Matt Carey, Bryce Bean and Nathaniel Miller.
Carey led off the bottom of the third with a walk, went to second base on a bunt base hit by Bean and went to third on the throw to first as Bean was safe. Corey Walker hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield, scoring Carey from third for a 1-1 tied score.
With two outs, Miller was hit by a pitch (on an 0-2 count), and both Bean and Miller scored on a double blasted to left-centerfield by Tyler Griego for a 3-1 lead as Miller raced around the bases, scoring from first base and Bean scoring from second.
The three-run inning by Hillsboro was all the runs they had in the tank against Toledo; the problem was Toledo was far from finished adding runs to their side as they compiled a four-run fourth inning for a 5-3 lead, which proved to be the final score of the game. In the fourth, Toledo scored with two hits, three walks, a sacrifice fly and an error by the Post 129 infield.
From the fourth through seventh innings, Post 129 had just two base runners, one coming on a walk (Matt Carey) and one on a hit batter (Paul Snyder) as the team finished with two hits on the day. For the game, Post 129 forced three walks.
The loss was charged to starting pitcher Joey Wilson, with Dustin Taylor entering the game in the top of the fourth in relief with one out with the score at the time being 4-3. Wilson finished with two strikeouts, as of the five runs allowed, three were unearned. Taylor had one strikeout.
"All day long, we had problems finding the strike zone, and we gave them runners and extra bases in the infield," Butler said. "It all came down to mistakes in the infield, and we couldn't throw strikes."
Then came game two, and it was far from the best effort by the Post 129 team this summer, as they cut the Circleville lead to as low as one run at 4-3.
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The one-run deficit (4-3) after three innings didn't last long as Circleville Post 134 responded with a two-run fourth, followed by a three-run fifth (including a home run by Christopher Cline), two-run sixth and five-run seventh for their 17 total runs.
"Teams were patient against us at the plate, forcing us to throw the ball in the middle of the plate on 3-1 and 3-0 counts," Butler said. "Circleville is a good hitting team and forced us to throw it down the heart of the plate."
As for Hillsboro, their runs came in the bottom of the third with three run, and again they scored three runs in the seventh.
As Hillsboro trailed 4-0 midway through the third, they responded with three runs of their own for the aforementioned 4-3 deficit.
Austin Merkle led off the bottom of the third inning with a walk, followed by Corey Walker reaching first on an infield error on the Circleville infield misplayed a bunt. Snyder battled in both runners with a double, as the ball traveled to the centerfield fence for two RBIs.
Derek Peters, with two outs, doubled home Snyder with a ball hit over the left-centerfield wall for a ground rule double. Hillsboro left two runners stranded at second and third on a ground out to end the inning.
Peters led Post 129 at the plate, going 3-for-4 with one run and three RBIs.
With the game well out of reach, Hillsboro scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh with Walker, Snyder and Peters all crossing home plate. With two outs, Peters batted in Walker and Snyder with a hit to right field, while Peters scored on a single by Zach Docter.
Against Circleville, Post 129 finished with nine hits and six walks. Besides Peters' three hits, Snyder followed with two hits and two runs, and Docter also totaled two hits. Stephen Pappas and Taylor Smucker each forced two walks, while Joey Wilson and Merkle each had one walk.
The pitching loss was charged to Casey Jordan with Taylor and Kyle Carson pitching in relief.
BOX SCORE
vs. Toledo Post 335
T 001 400 0 — 5 7 2
H 003 000 0 — 3 2 3
- - -
BOX SCORE
vs. Circleville Post 134
C 004 332 5 — 17 16 1
H 003 000 3 — 6 9 4