| Twister loss takes toll on skipper | | Posted: Friday, May 11, 2012 6:52 am
| Jeremy Maddox admittedly had a sleepless night Wednesday.
Such is the price when you have to put a season to bed under difficult circumstances.
The root of the Union City baseball coach’s restlessness was a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to Trenton Wednesday in which Peabody rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh to end the Tornadoes’ 2012 campaign in the District 14A Tournament at Elam Stadium.
Collin Abbott’s two-run triple and a sacrifice fly by Dylan Slayton highlighted the Tide comeback against a UC team that had scored single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to take a 4-2 lead after being down 2-1 after three.
“Anytime you have a game like that, I think you always second-guess yourself about moves you made, the ones you didn’t make and ones you think you should’ve made,” Maddox said this morning. “I’m comfortable with what I did, though, just not the results. But hey, you have to tip your hat to Trenton, too. They came up with some big hits in that seventh inning.”
The loss ended Union City’s season with an 18-14 record after back-to-back seasons in which the Twisters made it to sectional play.
UC loses no seniors, though, off this year’s squad.
Drew Cooley’s solo home run in the fourth tied up Wednesday’s game at 2-all before Joseph Shanks ripped an RBI double in the fifth to give the Tornadoes a one-run lead.
Cooley went 2-for-3 with two runs scored for Union City, while Caleb Long, Eric Moore and Luke Searcy all had RBIs for the locals.
Clay Treece went the distance on the mound for UC, giving up all five Trenton runs with six strikeouts two walks and 11 hits allowed.
Slayton, who tossed a one-hitter at the Tornadoes in a 3-0 victory on Saturday, pitched the first five innings Wednesday for the Tide — surrendering three runs and four hits.
Matthew Pickard came on in relief, tossing two innings and giving up one run to get credit for the pitching victory after retiring the Twisters in order in the seventh.
“No question, both Wednesday and the entire season can be a learning tool for us,” Maddox added when revisiting the game one last time. “Some of the good things we did were overshadowed by the things that weren’t so good. Anytime you fall short of your goals, there’s always disappointment.
“Having such a young team, though, I expect this to really motivate us in the offseason to get better and come back next spring and not let this happen again.”
Trenton will now face Greenfield in today’s championship round of the 14A tournament.
Published in The Messenger 5.10.12 | | | | |
