Wins over Ripley and Lynchburg boost North Adams to 12-5 on the season –
By Mark Carpenter –
The runner-up spot in the big school division of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference will belong to the baseball squad from North Adams High School. With two conference games remaining on the schedule, the Green Devils sport an 8-3 conference record, which is good enough for them to own second place in the big school, behind the champion West Union Dragons. The Green Devils have been on a serious roll, winning eight of their last nine games, giving them the momentum headed into the postseason.
North Adams picked up two SHAC wins earlier this week, the first of those a 27-0 drubbing of the Ripley Blue Jays on the Jays’ home field. On the mound, the Devils got a combined one-hit shutout effort from lefty Noah Lung and reliever Colt Shumaker and on offense went ballistic with 28 hits and 27 runs, all off of Ripley starter Heath Adams.
Besides his two-inning relief stint, Shumaker had a big day at the plate, going 4 for 5 with a pair of doubles, and driving home a career-high seven runs. Starting pitcher Noah Lung also was 4 for 5 and drove in three, while senior Bryant Lung topped them both, going a perfect 5 for 5 on the day and scoring four runs. The numbers parade continued with Zach Osborne getting three hits, driving home four, and scoring five times. Toss in three hit days for Dalton Gardner and Ryan Shupert and it all added up to a romp of the Green Devils.
The highlight of the day came in the top of the fourth inning when Coach Rob Meade summoned fan favorite Hunter Rapp to the plate as a pinch hitter. Rapp delivered with an infield hit and came all the way around to score, sliding into home plate to score the 17th North Adams run on a base hit by Shumaker.
On Wednesday, the Devils traveled to Lynchburg to complete a game suspended earlier in the season when the home plate umpire suffered a concussion after being drilled in the face mask with a foul ball. The game resumed in the bottom of the first inning with the Mustangs having the bases loaded and no outs. Bryant Lung was on the mound for North Adams and managed to get out of that situation with just two runs scoring.
The Devils’ offense made up that deficit and more in the top of the third when they scored four times to take the lead for good. A double by Lung brought home the first run and the tying run scored on a Gardner base hit. A two-bagger to center by Osborne scored Gardner and gave North Adams the lead and a Michael Gill base hit brought Osborne around to make it 4-2.
The Devils added a single run in the fourth, then struck for four more in their half of the sixth to take a commanding 9-2 advantage. An RBI single by Cade Meade in the top of the seventh provided the final score of a 10-3 North Adams win that improved the Devils to 12-5 on the spring.
Bryant Lung went the distance on the mound for the winners, allowing just one run after that inherited first inning jam. Though he was a bit wild with seven walks, the right hander more than made up for it by fanning 10 Lynchburg hitters. in picking up his fourth win of the season against just one loss, and lowered his earner run average to a sparkling 1.13.
Lung also jacked his batting average up to .452 by going 4 for 5 at the plate, driving home a pair and scoring a pair. The Devils also got two-hit days from Gardner and Gill as they claimed their eighth conference win of 2018.
On Thursday, May 3, the Devils were slated to travel to Fayetteville in SHAC action, then finish the regular season and the conference slate with a Monday trip to Eastern Brown. North Adams will begin sectional tournament play on May 9 when they will host Piketon, with a trip to the sectional finals on the line.
North Adams
004 104 1 —10
Lynchburg
200 001 0 —3
N. Adams Hitting (AB-R-H-RBI): Shupert 4-2-2-0, Young 2-3-0-0, B. Lung 5-2-4-2, Horsley 2-0-0-0, C. Meade 3-0-1-1, Gardner 3-1-2-2, Osborne 3-2-1-1, Gill 4-0-2-1, Thompson 3-0-1-1, Shumaker 4-0-0-0, Team 33-10-13-8.
Extra-Base Hits: B. Lung 2B (2), Osborne 2B
Lynchburg Hitting (AB-R-H-RBI): Pierson 3-1-2-0, Pitzer 4-1-2-1, Wolfe 3-0-0-0, McConnaughey 2-0-0-0, Croy 3-0-2-1, Hess 3-0-0-1, Fiscus 4-0-0-0, A. Proctor 2-0-0-0, Lewis 0-1-0-0, Barber 2-0-0-0, Smaltz 1-0-0-0, Team 27-3-6-3.
Extra-Base Hits: Croy 2B
N. Adams Pitching:
B. Lung (W) 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 7 BB, 10 K, 119 pitches
Lynchburg Pitching:
Pitzer (L) 5 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, 115 pitches
Hess 2 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, 58 pitches
