Final inning bigger thrill for ’Jackets

Posted: Wednesday, May 8, 2013 12:00 pm

It was exciting final inning — and a good one for Greenfield.
The Yellowjackets advanced to the double-elimination portion of the District 14A Baseball Tournament with a 2-1 win over Bradford at home Friday.
Greenfield’s momentum did not carry over to Monday, however, as the ’Jackets suffered a 7-0 loss to Union City.
Bradford scored the tying run in the top of the seventh with two outs on a RBI single up the middle by Ryan Shultz.
It looked like the Red Devils were going to take the game into extra innings before Greenfield scored the winning run in the bottom of the inning.
Josh Lasater got on base on a wild throw. Tanner Smithson was brought into the game to run for Lasater and give the ’Jackets more speed on the base paths.
Jordan Lasater then walked to put Smithson in scoring position with no outs. Austin Pence then put down a perfect bunt to put the runners on second and third with one out. Jeffery Johnson struck out swinging, and Hunter Crouse was intentionally walked to load the bases.
Crouse had been a thorn in Bradford’s side by hitting a double in the first and scoring the first run of the game, reaching on a single in the third and hitting a deep fly ball to rightfield in the fifth.
Tyler Griffin came up to the plate with two outs when Bradford’s starting pitcher Tyler McCartney threw the wild pitch.
Smithson broke for home and the relay from the catcher to McCartney, who was covering the plate, was well off the mark. Smithson was then mobbed by his teammates as McCartney still laid out on the ground by home plate in disbelief.
Greenfield only got two hits off of McCartney with Crouse getting both of them.
Grooms allowed one earned run on five hits and one walk. He struck out five in this close pitching contest.
UC 7, Greenfield 0
Hunter Crouse had three of his team’s four hits as the Yellowjackets were shut out and sent to the losers’ bracket.
Crouse doubled twice, while Zack Grooms doubled for Greenfield’s other hit.
UC’s Clay Treece struck out 13 and allowed four walks in six innings of work, while Drake Parker struck out the side while giving up a hit in the seventh inning. At the plate, Parker was 2-for-2 with a home run. He also walked twice.
SOFTBALL
G’field 12, Bradford 2
There was little doubt how this game was going to end when the Lady ’Jackets scored six in the bottom of the first and five in the bottom of the third to take an 11-1 lead.
Allison Williams scored the game-ending run in the bottom of the fifth when a pitch went into the dirt and got by the catcher, thereby enacting the 10-run rule to end the game.
Melissa Williams was sharp in the circle, allowing only one earned run on one hit and one walk. She also had seven strikeouts in the game.
Allison Williams stroked a two-run single in the first to give the Lady ’Jackets a 2-1 after the first three batters reached base.
She stole home later in the inning to make it 4-1. Katie Smith added a run-scoring single to make it a 6-1 game a few batters later.
Kayla Harris had a bases-clearing double in the third with Tiffani Withworth, Carlee Hearn and Melissa Williams on the base paths. Carly Archie then tripled home Harris to make it a 10-1 game. Allison Williams then singled her home for Greenfield’s 11th run of the game.
Harris went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and scored twice, while Allison Williams went 4-for-4 with three RBIs and scored two runs.
Whitworth went 2-for-3 and scored twice, and Hearn had two hits and crossed the plate twice. Archie had one RBI on one hit and scored two runs.

Published in The WCP 5.7.13