|
|
|
 Elaine Fletcher, from left, of Etna Green, and friends Geneal and Duane Walters, both of Bourbon, visit with Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels Wednesday during his brief stop at the Etna Green Cafe, where talk about property tax caps, medical insurance and more was served up with homemade food and good coffee by Kathy Drake, not pictured, a waitress there for about five years. pilot Photo/Anita Munson By Anita Munson Staff Writer ETNA GREEN — Vance Stills couldn’t be at his own business, the Etna Green Cafe, Wednesday to meet with Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels when the top state official breezed through after a visit to Elkhart. |
|
|
|
|
|
Post 27 manages a split |
|
|
Monday, 30 June 2008 |
|
By Dee Grenert
Sports Editor
PLYMOUTH — Plymouth American Legion Post 27 solved its problems in a hurry.
Just 20 minutes after enduring a 14-5 pounding from Osceola Post 308 — complete with four costly errors and three wild pitches — in the first game of a baseball twin bill at Bill Nixon Field Sunday, Post 27 took to the diamond in the nightcap.
Behind solid pitching from Ryne Sweeney and Damon Howe, a markedly improved defensive performance and sixth-inning clutch hits from Joel Solis and Dustin Kreft, Plymouth salvaged a split with a 2-1 victory in Game 2.
“You never want to lose both games, so we’re happy to get the win,” Post 27 coach Tony Plothow said. “We got some good pitching and better defense. We got rained out a few games, so we’re still trying to figure out who fits in where, and we’re looking at some dual roles for some kids. The kids did a good job sneaking one out.”
Plymouth left men in scoring position in three of the first five innings before finally breaking through against Post 308’s Ethan Leiter in the sixth. Post 27 center fielder Steve Cornett coaxed a leadoff walk and advanced to second on Jay Badell’s sacrifice bunt — Plymouth’s third sacrifice of the game. Solis dumped a flare into center for his second hit of the game, and when the ball skipped past center fielder Mike Carroll, Cornett hustled home with the game-tying run.
“I thought we executed well, as far as getting bunts down, we just couldn’t get the clutch hit until the sixth inning,” Plothow said. “It took awhile to get the big hit, but we’ll take it.”
Howe then walked on four pitches to put runners at first and second. Kreft, who misplayed a fly ball in the fourth that led to Post 308’s only run, found some redemption with an RBI double to center to score Solis and put Post 27 up 2-1.
“It was a fastball about mid-level, maybe a little outside,” Kreft said of the pitch he drove into the gap. “I wasn’t really looking for any pitch. I was ready for pretty much anything. After making a mistake in the outfield, I was looking to do something to help the team.”
On the mound, Sweeney and Howe combined to allow the offensive-minded Osceola team, which slugged out 14 hits in the opener, just five base knocks the second time around.
“Five hits against a good-hitting team, I’m happy with that,” Plothow said. “Our defense played pretty well, too. We didn’t give them too many extra outs in the second game.”
Howe, who picked up the win with two scoreless innings in relief, worked out of a jam in the seventh inning. Post 308’s Garrick Dikos ripped a one-out double that hit the infield dirt and skyrocketed down the right field line. Leiter followed with a line shot that Post 27 third baseman Brody Solmos got a glove on to keep the ball in the infield and hold Dikos to third.
After Howe fanned Don Perry looking for the second out, he caught Leiter breaking for second on a pickoff attempt, but with Dikos edging down the third base line, first baseman Brett Houlihan conceded second to Leiter. Howe then induced a game-ending grounder to second baseman Jared Rhodes.
“I was relieved,” Howe said of the final out. “Once I saw where the ball was hit I wasn’t worried because I know our defense is going to make the plays.”
The fireballing Howe, who just finished his freshman season at Plymouth High School, struck out three batters — all looking — after playing first base in the opener and sitting the first five innings of the second game.
“Before the game (pitching) coach (Mike) Hite told me I was going to pitch this game,” Howe said. “They tell me I’m the closer, so I’m always ready to go whenever they need me. I relied on my fastball. I just tried to get it on the outside corner; I’ve got pretty good velocity. I was pretty nervous, but after I got my first out I was confident that I belonged on the mound.”
Although Sweeney received a no-decision, he tossed five very solid innings. The Oregon-Davis southpaw allowed just three hits, struck out two, and perhaps most importantly, issued nary a free pass.
“Just getting ahead,” Sweeney said of his recipe for success. “I got ahead of a lot of hitters. That first-pitch strike is very important.”
Post 308 scored its lone run in the fourth inning. Carroll tripled on a catchable fly ball that took off on Kreft in right field. Tyler Gregory hit an RBI grounder to short that scored Carroll, and Gregory reached himself on a bad throw. Sweeney then rolled up a 4-6-3 double play to avert further damage.
“It was an earned run, but the guys know the run shouldn’t have scored, so it’s like an unearned earned run,” Plothow said. “It was good to come back and get (Sweeney) off the hook. He pitched well; he kept us in the game. He didn’t walk anybody, and that’s huge at any level of baseball.”
Osceola threatened again in the fifth, but Sweeney escaped unscathed. Perry led off with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. With the infield in, Eric Hess hit a grounder to third that Post 27 third baseman Michael Fansler fired home to Cody Bucher to easily nail Perry. Bucher also gunned down a pair of Post 308 runners trying to steal second, once in the second and another time in the sixth.
“It’s nice having a good defense behind me,” Sweeney said. “They get it done. It’s a blast playing with these guys. We all get along, and we understand what each of us can do.”
Post 27 managed just a pair of bright spots in the first game.
Shortstop Brandon Elliott jacked a pair of two-run home runs for Plymouth. The first homer — a blast over the left field fence— gave Post 27 a 2-0 advantage in the second. His next shot cleared the center field wall and gave Plymouth a short-lived 5-4 lead.
However, Post 308 struck for 10 runs on nine hits and an error in the fourth. Travis Singleton scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch and Gregory followed with a three-run double to put the rally in high gear. Catcher Jason Keough added a two-RBI triple as well.
“Brandon was 2-for-2 with two home runs and a walk,” Plothow said. “I thought that was really going to be big, and it was at the time, but we made a few errors and gave up a few unearned runs. You can’t do that against a good-hitting team. They put the hurt on us.”
Fansler provided the other positive for Post 27, tossing 3 1-3 scoreless innings in relief.
“I thought Fansler came in and kind of shut them down a little bit,” Plothow said. “He stopped the bleeding.”
Dikos, who started and allowed five runs through the first three innings, settled in with the big lead and allowed just two more hits in his remaining three frames of work.
Post 27 is at Bill Nixon Field tonight against Logansport Post 60.
• OSCEOLA POST 308 14-1
PLYMOUTH POST 27 5-2
At Plymouth
Game 1
Post 308: 0 0 4 10 0 0 0 – 14 14 4
Post 27: 0 3 2 0 0 0 0 – 5 6 4
Garrick Dikos (W), Don Perry and Jason Keough; Mitch Bowers, Chase Byerly (4, L), Michael Fansler (4) and Mo Weddington.
2B: Tyler Gregory (308), Gary Downey (308).
3B: Gregory (308).
HR: Brandon Elliott 2 (27).
Game 2
Post 308: 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 – 1 5 2
Post 27: 0 0 0 0 0 2 x – 2 4 2
Ethan Leiter (L) and Brad Hestad; Ryne Sweeney, Damon Howe (6, W, 1-0) and Cody Bucher.
2B: Perry (308), Dikos (308), Kreft (27).
3B: Mike Carroll (308).
Record: Post 27 5-4.
|
|
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 01 July 2008 )
|
|
|
|
