Tigers have season ended by Circleville in final inning
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
GREENFIELD — A two-run lead headed into the final inning wasn't able to keep the McClain Tigers' season going in the first round of the Division II SE District Sectional tournament, as the host Tigers allowed the Circleville Tigers to score seven runs in the seventh, leading to a 10-5 loss, Monday at Mitchell Park.
McClain led 5-3 headed into the top of the seventh, but three pitchers combined to allow the visiting CHS Tigers to score the aforementioned seven runs on seven hits and two walks in the inning to not only take the lead but put the score out of reach for MHS.
The No. 8 seeded McClain Tigers wrap up their season at 7-18 overall, dropping their final eight games on the year. With the win, No. 9 seeded CHS improves to 5-22 overall, as they will travel to take on No. 1 seeded Sheridan on Thursday at 5 p.m.
MHS head coach Brandon Streitenberger tipped his cap to Circleville, saying they got the hits when they needed to get them.
"I have to credit Circleville here … they hit the ball off our top pitchers, so I'll tip my cap to them," he said. "They beat us more than we beat ourselves.
"We didn't play poorly, and we hit the ball fairly well, but Circleville's bats came to life when they needed them to come alive."
Though MHS had the lead at the start of the final inning, it was Circleville who was first to strike, scoring one run off two hits in the first inning with David Burroughs scoring the game's first run.
MHS tied the game in the bottom of the second with Cameron Spangler scoring on a fielder's choice to the shortstop hit by Trevor Gossett for the RBI. Spangler initially reached the bases with a lead-off single hit down the third base line.
Circleville regained the lead in the top of the fourth, adding two runs and a 3-1 lead with Rusty Shull and Griffin scoring two unearned runs as McClain committed an error in the infield for what should have been the first out of the inning. Both runners moved up one base on a passed ball and scored on a double to left-centerfield by Burroughs for two RBIs.
[[In-content Ad]]MHS answered with three runs in their half of the fourth for a lead of 4-3 as they had three hits in the inning, including a three-run home run to left field by Kyle Flora, scoring Caleb Rayburn (2-for-3, one run) and Jordan Boles, who reached the bases with a double to left field and a single up the middle. Boles led MHS at 2-for-2 with one walk and two runs.
Brent Shannon also had a base hit in the fourth but was thrown out at second base.
The host Tigers added one more run in the bottom of the sixth with Boles scoring on a single to right-centerfield by Gossett. Circleville ended the MHS rally with a 4-6-3 double play. Gossett finished 1-for-3 with two RBIs.
Then came the seventh where MHS used three pitchers and Circleville got hits off all three as they hit seven singles in the inning, loading the bases on three separate occasions. Scoring runs were Burroughs, Nick Miller, John Hamman, JT Turner, Shull, Ritchie Griffin and BJ Charles.
Hamman led CHS at 4-for-5 with one run. Burroughs was 3-for-5 with two runs. Shull, Griffin and Charles each had two hits.
The loss went to Ryan Case in his final game for the Tigers. Case pitched 6 complete innings and pitched to three batters in the seventh, leaving the game with Circleville leading 6-5. Case finished by allowing six hits (four earned) on 14 hits and two walks. Of the 14 hits, only one went for extra bases. Case finished with six strikeouts.
Pitching in relief were Ryan Perie and Flora. Perie pitched 2-3 of an inning in the seventh, allowing four runs (four earned) on four hits and one walk. Flora pitched 1-3 of an inning in the seventh, allowing one hit.
The winning pitcher was Circleville's Austin Manson, who pitched three innings of relief, allowing one run (none earned) on one hit, one walk and one hit batter. Pitching the first four innings for CHS was Miller, who allowed four runs (four earned) on seven hits and one walk. He finished with one strikeout.
MHS finished with eight hits total, while CHS totaled 18 hits.
This was the final game for MHS seniors Ryan Case and Ryan Perie.
"It's hard to replace these two," Streitenberger said of his two seniors. "They were our top pitchers and our top hitters. This was a rough year, but they were great leaders and kept the dugout up.
"My hope is the younger guys learned from their example. The younger guys will keep improving, and we just need to keep working on our pitching in the offseason."
Case was named first-team All-SCOL and first-team All-SE District. Perie was second-team All-SCOL.
BOX SCORE
CHS 100 200 7 — 10 18 2
MHS 010 301 0 — 5 8 4
McClain led 5-3 headed into the top of the seventh, but three pitchers combined to allow the visiting CHS Tigers to score the aforementioned seven runs on seven hits and two walks in the inning to not only take the lead but put the score out of reach for MHS.
The No. 8 seeded McClain Tigers wrap up their season at 7-18 overall, dropping their final eight games on the year. With the win, No. 9 seeded CHS improves to 5-22 overall, as they will travel to take on No. 1 seeded Sheridan on Thursday at 5 p.m.
MHS head coach Brandon Streitenberger tipped his cap to Circleville, saying they got the hits when they needed to get them.
"I have to credit Circleville here … they hit the ball off our top pitchers, so I'll tip my cap to them," he said. "They beat us more than we beat ourselves.
"We didn't play poorly, and we hit the ball fairly well, but Circleville's bats came to life when they needed them to come alive."
Though MHS had the lead at the start of the final inning, it was Circleville who was first to strike, scoring one run off two hits in the first inning with David Burroughs scoring the game's first run.
MHS tied the game in the bottom of the second with Cameron Spangler scoring on a fielder's choice to the shortstop hit by Trevor Gossett for the RBI. Spangler initially reached the bases with a lead-off single hit down the third base line.
Circleville regained the lead in the top of the fourth, adding two runs and a 3-1 lead with Rusty Shull and Griffin scoring two unearned runs as McClain committed an error in the infield for what should have been the first out of the inning. Both runners moved up one base on a passed ball and scored on a double to left-centerfield by Burroughs for two RBIs.
[[In-content Ad]]MHS answered with three runs in their half of the fourth for a lead of 4-3 as they had three hits in the inning, including a three-run home run to left field by Kyle Flora, scoring Caleb Rayburn (2-for-3, one run) and Jordan Boles, who reached the bases with a double to left field and a single up the middle. Boles led MHS at 2-for-2 with one walk and two runs.
Brent Shannon also had a base hit in the fourth but was thrown out at second base.
The host Tigers added one more run in the bottom of the sixth with Boles scoring on a single to right-centerfield by Gossett. Circleville ended the MHS rally with a 4-6-3 double play. Gossett finished 1-for-3 with two RBIs.
Then came the seventh where MHS used three pitchers and Circleville got hits off all three as they hit seven singles in the inning, loading the bases on three separate occasions. Scoring runs were Burroughs, Nick Miller, John Hamman, JT Turner, Shull, Ritchie Griffin and BJ Charles.
Hamman led CHS at 4-for-5 with one run. Burroughs was 3-for-5 with two runs. Shull, Griffin and Charles each had two hits.
The loss went to Ryan Case in his final game for the Tigers. Case pitched 6 complete innings and pitched to three batters in the seventh, leaving the game with Circleville leading 6-5. Case finished by allowing six hits (four earned) on 14 hits and two walks. Of the 14 hits, only one went for extra bases. Case finished with six strikeouts.
Pitching in relief were Ryan Perie and Flora. Perie pitched 2-3 of an inning in the seventh, allowing four runs (four earned) on four hits and one walk. Flora pitched 1-3 of an inning in the seventh, allowing one hit.
The winning pitcher was Circleville's Austin Manson, who pitched three innings of relief, allowing one run (none earned) on one hit, one walk and one hit batter. Pitching the first four innings for CHS was Miller, who allowed four runs (four earned) on seven hits and one walk. He finished with one strikeout.
MHS finished with eight hits total, while CHS totaled 18 hits.
This was the final game for MHS seniors Ryan Case and Ryan Perie.
"It's hard to replace these two," Streitenberger said of his two seniors. "They were our top pitchers and our top hitters. This was a rough year, but they were great leaders and kept the dugout up.
"My hope is the younger guys learned from their example. The younger guys will keep improving, and we just need to keep working on our pitching in the offseason."
Case was named first-team All-SCOL and first-team All-SE District. Perie was second-team All-SCOL.
BOX SCORE
CHS 100 200 7 — 10 18 2
MHS 010 301 0 — 5 8 4