Post 129 regroups with shutout win
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
CHILLICOTHE — After a tough one-run defeat Friday morning, Hillsboro Post 129 regrouped with a 7-0 shutout victory against Berkley Post 374 a few hours later at Ross County Park.
The two games Friday in the second annual Jim Jadwin Memorial Tournament puts Hillsboro at 1-1 in the 14-team tourney, with 12 runs in two games. In their first game, they lost 6-5 to Wheeling Post 1 from West Virginia.
[[In-content Ad]]As for their afternoon game, Post 129 (8-13) continued to put bat to baseball, finishing the game with 11 hits, but showed some more patience at the plate as well with three walks.
Both games combined Friday, Hillsboro totaled 21 hits and eight walks.
"After the way we lost the first game with the mistakes, we had a nice comeback in this game," Hillsboro Post 129 head coach Scott Morgan said. "This game, we came back and made plays in the field. We backed up our pitching."
Speaking of the Post 129 pitching, it was one of the top performances of their summer with starter Austin Merkle allowing just two hits in the seven-inning shutout performance. He ended the game with a called third strike.
Merkle walked two and struck out three in the Post 129's second win in their past four games. The two hits by Berkley came with a single in the first inning and another base hit in the fifth. He held Berkley to three batters in an inning on three occasions, including the sixth and seventh innings.
"(Austin) pitched great," Morgan said. "He did what we needed him to do."
Post 129 scored their first run in the first inning with Luke Taggert (3-for-5) leading off the game for the visitors with a base hit to centerfield. He took second on a passed ball and went to third on a outfield error. The leadoff hitter scored on a ground out by Corey Walker, who finished with one hit.
Hillsboro really got their bats swinging in the second, adding three runs to their lead for a 4-0 advantage. Joey Wilson (2-for-3, one walk) opened the inning with a single to left field, followed with Zach Docter taking to the bases on an error in the outfield. Derek Peters also reached first via error.
Latrell Haithcock helped bat in Wilson on a fielder's choice. Both Docter and Haithcock scored on a line drive to centerfield by Camden Vinup with two outs.
The lead stayed four runs through five innings and increased to seven after the top of the sixth was complete.
Taggert led off the inning with a base hit to left field, stole second and went to third on a ground out by Vinup. Following a walk forced by Walker, Taggert scored on a passed ball for the fifth run by Hillsboro.
Walker eventually scored on a passed ball as well, after stealing second and advancing to third on a base hit to right field by Tyler Griego. Griego also stole second base and went to third on a fly out by Jared Halley. Griego made it a 7-0 lead when he took home as Wilson stole second base with two outs.
Post 129 will play two games on Saturday as they will face Great Lakes Neal Post 743 at 8:45 a.m. at Ross County Park. Their second game Saturday will be played at Unioto High School, scheduled at 11 a.m. against Zanesville Post 29.
The two games Friday in the second annual Jim Jadwin Memorial Tournament puts Hillsboro at 1-1 in the 14-team tourney, with 12 runs in two games. In their first game, they lost 6-5 to Wheeling Post 1 from West Virginia.
[[In-content Ad]]As for their afternoon game, Post 129 (8-13) continued to put bat to baseball, finishing the game with 11 hits, but showed some more patience at the plate as well with three walks.
Both games combined Friday, Hillsboro totaled 21 hits and eight walks.
"After the way we lost the first game with the mistakes, we had a nice comeback in this game," Hillsboro Post 129 head coach Scott Morgan said. "This game, we came back and made plays in the field. We backed up our pitching."
Speaking of the Post 129 pitching, it was one of the top performances of their summer with starter Austin Merkle allowing just two hits in the seven-inning shutout performance. He ended the game with a called third strike.
Merkle walked two and struck out three in the Post 129's second win in their past four games. The two hits by Berkley came with a single in the first inning and another base hit in the fifth. He held Berkley to three batters in an inning on three occasions, including the sixth and seventh innings.
"(Austin) pitched great," Morgan said. "He did what we needed him to do."
Post 129 scored their first run in the first inning with Luke Taggert (3-for-5) leading off the game for the visitors with a base hit to centerfield. He took second on a passed ball and went to third on a outfield error. The leadoff hitter scored on a ground out by Corey Walker, who finished with one hit.
Hillsboro really got their bats swinging in the second, adding three runs to their lead for a 4-0 advantage. Joey Wilson (2-for-3, one walk) opened the inning with a single to left field, followed with Zach Docter taking to the bases on an error in the outfield. Derek Peters also reached first via error.
Latrell Haithcock helped bat in Wilson on a fielder's choice. Both Docter and Haithcock scored on a line drive to centerfield by Camden Vinup with two outs.
The lead stayed four runs through five innings and increased to seven after the top of the sixth was complete.
Taggert led off the inning with a base hit to left field, stole second and went to third on a ground out by Vinup. Following a walk forced by Walker, Taggert scored on a passed ball for the fifth run by Hillsboro.
Walker eventually scored on a passed ball as well, after stealing second and advancing to third on a base hit to right field by Tyler Griego. Griego also stole second base and went to third on a fly out by Jared Halley. Griego made it a 7-0 lead when he took home as Wilson stole second base with two outs.
Post 129 will play two games on Saturday as they will face Great Lakes Neal Post 743 at 8:45 a.m. at Ross County Park. Their second game Saturday will be played at Unioto High School, scheduled at 11 a.m. against Zanesville Post 29.