Marines can’t sustain offense in loss
By Ken Fillmore
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| Hamilton sophomore John McKnight makes contact against the Westview Warriors Tuesday. McKnight had a hit and drove in a run in a losing cause. Photo by Andy Barrand. |
“This was a big win for our team,” Westview coach Mark Engle said. “After the first two innings, we really settled down. We did not make the big play, but we were not giving them extra outs.”
And the Warrior youth sure put their stamp on it.
Westview is littered with promising freshmen and sophomores, and they got on base for their run-producers in the middle of the order and got big outs to help the comeback efforts.
Sophomore leftfielder Lee Miller led off for the Warriors and had three hits and three runs. Sophomore second baseman Keaton McDonald and freshman shortstop Chase Fennell had two hits each, with McDonald scoring twice.
They set the table for seniors Justin Kaufman, Ty Bontrager and Matt Loy, as well as freshman Seth Joyce. That quartet combined to drive in 10 runs.
Kaufman got Westview (3-9, 2-5 NECC) closer in the top of the third inning at 5-3 with a three-run homer to center after Miller doubled and Fennell singled.
“There was no way I thought they would get 11 runs off (Drew) Freed and (Tyler) Sorg. But the top three guys in the lineup hurt us all night,” HHS coach Jim Sanxter said of Miller, Fennell and Kaufman.
McDonald and Miller opened the fourth with back-to-back singles. They both scored to tie the game at 5. McDonald came home on a Bontrager walk with the bases loaded, and Miller scored when Joyce reached base on an error.
Freed started on three days rest and labored in the fourth. He walked three of the final four batters he faced, with the final walk going to Loy with the bases full to score Kaufman and give Westview a 6-5 lead.
Sorg came on in relief for the Marines (3-9, 1-6) and retired five straight hitters. He got into a bases loaded jam with nobody out in the sixth, but got out of it without giving up a run.
But Westview’s young talent were big in getting the best of the senior Sorg in the bottom of the sixth and top of the seventh innings.
Freshman left-hander Anthony Roth came on to face Sorg with two outs and nobody on in the sixth in a one-run game. Sorg is one of the Marines’ top hitters, and had three hits going into that at-bat.
But Roth put the jumpy Sorg away with one pitch as the Marine grounded out weakly to first base.
“Anthony is crafty,” Engle said. “Tyler was licking his lips looking for something good to hit, and Anthony got him out in front. It feels good because bringing him in was one decision I made that finally went right.”
Sorg reached his limit in the seventh pitching beyond three innings and showed fatigue trying to keep the Marines close. Three walks and two errors by Hamilton were key for the Warriors in their five-run seventh to gain separation. Loy had a three-run triple to right with two outs, and scored on a wild pitch.
On top of that, the Warriors did not break down defensively and held the Marines to only three hits over the final five innings.
Hamilton had eight hits in the first two innings in scoring five runs. But it was not disciplined at the plate the rest of the way. Kaufman struggled to throw his curve ball for strikes, but the Marines swung at them anyway.
“Trailing 6-5, I still felt comfortable that we could get the tying run,” Sanxter said. “But we only hit for two innings, then quit. That shows we lack the mental part of it.”
Kaufman reached base five times and got the win, but will have to miss Thursday’s home game against Prairie Heights. He got thrown out for banging his helmet in frustration after getting thrown out at the plate in the seventh. Engle saw Kaufman’s breakout of aggression and fire throughout the game as a positive.
For Hamilton, senior Dane Furniss only suffered a pulled left hamstring at Prairie Heights last Thursday after getting it looked at by doctors. Furniss will return to the doctor over the next couple of days to get the hamstring looked at again. Sanxter does not expect to have one of his best players for another two weeks.
Westview 11, Hamilton 5
Westview ab r h bi Hamilton ab r h bi
Miller lf 4 3 3 0 Aldrich ss 3 2 2 0
Fennell ss 4 1 2 0 West cf 4 2 2 0
K’fman p-1b 3 2 2 3 McKn’ht dh 4 0 1 1
Ortiz rf 0 0 0 0 Sorg 2b-p 4 1 3 3
B’rager 3b-p 3 1 2 2 P’sley 1b-3b 3 0 0 0
Joyce rf-3b 4 1 1 2 King c 2 0 0 0
Loy c 4 1 1 3 Freed p-1b 4 0 2 0
Smith cf 4 0 1 0 Thain pr 0 0 0 0
Roth 1b-p 4 0 0 0 Gordon lf 3 0 1 0
McDon’d 2b 4 2 2 0 Martin rf 3 0 0 0
Cool rf 1 0 0 0
J’son 3b-2b 0 0 0 0
Totals 34111410 Totals 31 511 4
Westview 003 300 5 — 11 14 1
Hamilton 320 000 0 — 5 11 4
E — Aldrich 2, McDonald, Freed, Presley. DP — WV 1 (1st, Miller-McDonald-Bontrager), HHS 1 (1st, Aldrich-Sorg-Presley). LOB — WV 12, HHS 10. 2B — Sorg 2, Smith, Miller. 3B — Loy. HR — Kaufman. SH — Miller, Fennell, Gordon. SB — Aldrich, Sorg. Reached on catcher’s interference — Aldrich.
WESTVIEW IP H R ER BB SO
Kaufman (W, 1-5) 5.2 10 5 5 2 5
Roth 0.1 0 0 0 0 0
Bontrager 1.0 1 0 0 1 1
HAMILTON IP H R ER BB SO
Freed (L, 0-5) 3.1 10 6 6 3 4
Sorg 3.2 4 5 2 3 6
Freed pitched to 7 batters in the 4th.
Kaufman pitched to 2 batters in the 6th.
WP — Sorg. PB — Loy. HBP — By Freed (Roth), By Sorg (Joyce).
Warriors Lose 7-4
The Warriors lost a competive game to a good Fremont ball club. Freshman Anthony Roth settled down after a 5 run first. He kept the Fremont hitters off balance most of the night. The game saw the return of familiar players back at their familiar positions. Senior Matt Loy saw action behind the plate in his 3rd game back after breaking a bone in his left had. That move enabled veteran Ty Bontrager to move back to 3rd, where he made several nice plays. Justin Kaufman hit his 2nd home run of the spring. He also had single. Freshman Seth Joyce had a single and a double to continue his hot hitting of late. Justin Brandenberger had the other safety. Chase Fennell had a sacrifice fly for his 5th RBI of the week. The Warriors host Howe on Monday @ 6:30.
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