Post 129 sweeps DH against Waverly
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HILLSBORO — The American Legion Post 129 of Hillsboro baseball team was a perfect 2-for-2 Tuesday night, earning consecutive wins in a doubleheader sweep of Waverly Post 142 by scores of 2-1 and 10-0, en route to their eighth and ninth victories of the season.
The wins put Hillsboro at 4-1 in the summer SCOL standings as the Post 129 squad moves closer to the .500 mark, as they are 9-12 overall.
"It was nice to get two league wins (Tuesday)," Hillsboro Post 129 head coach Ritchie Butler said. "We had excellent pitching (Tuesday), plus our bats woke up in the second game.
"We took a couple tough losses in the weekend tournament, two games we had chances to win, but right now we are playing better baseball."
The wins were due in large part to the pitching of Derek Peters in game one and Matt Carey in the nightcap. But it was a play called at third base by Butler that changed the entire outlook of the first game, occurring in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Hillsboro trailed 1-0 in the bottom of the sixth, but an RBI ground out by Joey Wilson to score Corey Walker from third base tied the game at one … though it was another play from third-to-home that put Hillsboro in the lead for good.
With one out and Paul Snyder standing on third base, a suicide squeeze was called by Butler and perfected by Nathaniel Miller, who put the ball in the right spot, scoring Snyder from third as he scored standing up, giving the home squad a one-run lead.
"We just couldn't string together hits in the first game, but we scored when we needed to with the suicide squeeze," Butler said.
That one run was enough for Peters, as the Fayetteville graduate finished his start by keeping Post 142 from scoring any more runs to earn the win.
Peters finished with seven innings on the mound (a complete game), allowing one run (unearned) on four hits, two walks and one hit batter, while striking out seven.
For the first game, Hillsboro totaled four hits as a team, while forcing five walks. Gaining the hits were Walker, Brandon Wilson, Tyler Griego and Kyle Carson. Drawing walks were Bryce Bean, Snyder, Joey Wilson, Brandon Wilson and Griego. Snyder was also hit by a pitch in the first inning.
Then came game two … and that was all Post 129 as they dominated the five-inning run-rule game with a 10-0 victory to close out the night at Shaffer Park.
Post 129 spread out their runs in game two with a one-run second, followed with a four-run third for a 5-0 lead. In the fourth, the home team added three runs, and they finished off Waverly with two runs in the fifth.
Zach Docter scored the first run of the game, scoring on a passed ball in the second inning.
The run proved to be enough, but it was far from the last time Post 129 would "round third and head for home," as Nick Bush scored a run in the third, also on a passed ball with one out.
The third inning continued with Joey Wilson batting in Walker and Snyder with a ball hit to right-centerfield making the score 4-0. Wilson eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Dustin Taylor for the five-run advantage.
Post 129 increased its lead to eight runs in the fourth with Stephen Pappas, Luke Taggert and Walker all touching home plate. Taggert batted in Pappas with two outs, Walker tripled in Taggert (sending the ball to the right field fence) and Walker scored on a double by Snyder, who sent the ball to right field.
In the fifth, Taylor scored on a bases-loaded walk by Bush, and a single up the middle of the infield by Walker scored Pappas for the win. Pappas took the bases with a single to shallow right field.
"We executed in the second game … we had a couple sacrifices, and we did the little things better," Butler said.
Carey earned the shutout win for Post 129. Not only did Carey finish with nine strikeouts (he struck out the side twice), he allowed no runs on three hits, one hit batter and four walks.
Hillsboro finished their second game with 10 hits and five walks. Walker was 3-for-4 , and Bush was 2-for-2. Taggert, Snyder, Joey Wilson, Docter and Pappas each had one hit. Snyder forced two walks, while Docter, Casey Jordan and Bush each had one walk.
Post 129 will play a nine-inning game on Wednesday, as they will host Gallipolis with a first-pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. at Shaffer Park.[[In-content Ad]]
The wins put Hillsboro at 4-1 in the summer SCOL standings as the Post 129 squad moves closer to the .500 mark, as they are 9-12 overall.
"It was nice to get two league wins (Tuesday)," Hillsboro Post 129 head coach Ritchie Butler said. "We had excellent pitching (Tuesday), plus our bats woke up in the second game.
"We took a couple tough losses in the weekend tournament, two games we had chances to win, but right now we are playing better baseball."
The wins were due in large part to the pitching of Derek Peters in game one and Matt Carey in the nightcap. But it was a play called at third base by Butler that changed the entire outlook of the first game, occurring in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Hillsboro trailed 1-0 in the bottom of the sixth, but an RBI ground out by Joey Wilson to score Corey Walker from third base tied the game at one … though it was another play from third-to-home that put Hillsboro in the lead for good.
With one out and Paul Snyder standing on third base, a suicide squeeze was called by Butler and perfected by Nathaniel Miller, who put the ball in the right spot, scoring Snyder from third as he scored standing up, giving the home squad a one-run lead.
"We just couldn't string together hits in the first game, but we scored when we needed to with the suicide squeeze," Butler said.
That one run was enough for Peters, as the Fayetteville graduate finished his start by keeping Post 142 from scoring any more runs to earn the win.
Peters finished with seven innings on the mound (a complete game), allowing one run (unearned) on four hits, two walks and one hit batter, while striking out seven.
For the first game, Hillsboro totaled four hits as a team, while forcing five walks. Gaining the hits were Walker, Brandon Wilson, Tyler Griego and Kyle Carson. Drawing walks were Bryce Bean, Snyder, Joey Wilson, Brandon Wilson and Griego. Snyder was also hit by a pitch in the first inning.
Then came game two … and that was all Post 129 as they dominated the five-inning run-rule game with a 10-0 victory to close out the night at Shaffer Park.
Post 129 spread out their runs in game two with a one-run second, followed with a four-run third for a 5-0 lead. In the fourth, the home team added three runs, and they finished off Waverly with two runs in the fifth.
Zach Docter scored the first run of the game, scoring on a passed ball in the second inning.
The run proved to be enough, but it was far from the last time Post 129 would "round third and head for home," as Nick Bush scored a run in the third, also on a passed ball with one out.
The third inning continued with Joey Wilson batting in Walker and Snyder with a ball hit to right-centerfield making the score 4-0. Wilson eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Dustin Taylor for the five-run advantage.
Post 129 increased its lead to eight runs in the fourth with Stephen Pappas, Luke Taggert and Walker all touching home plate. Taggert batted in Pappas with two outs, Walker tripled in Taggert (sending the ball to the right field fence) and Walker scored on a double by Snyder, who sent the ball to right field.
In the fifth, Taylor scored on a bases-loaded walk by Bush, and a single up the middle of the infield by Walker scored Pappas for the win. Pappas took the bases with a single to shallow right field.
"We executed in the second game … we had a couple sacrifices, and we did the little things better," Butler said.
Carey earned the shutout win for Post 129. Not only did Carey finish with nine strikeouts (he struck out the side twice), he allowed no runs on three hits, one hit batter and four walks.
Hillsboro finished their second game with 10 hits and five walks. Walker was 3-for-4 , and Bush was 2-for-2. Taggert, Snyder, Joey Wilson, Docter and Pappas each had one hit. Snyder forced two walks, while Docter, Casey Jordan and Bush each had one walk.
Post 129 will play a nine-inning game on Wednesday, as they will host Gallipolis with a first-pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. at Shaffer Park.[[In-content Ad]]