By Mark Carpenter
A big baseball showdown in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference came to Manchester High School on April 20 as the Greyhounds hosted county rival North Adams, with both teams right in the thick of the conference races in the big and small school divisions. North Adams came into the contest riding a five-game winning streak and just a game behind in the big school division, while the Hounds were looking to bounce back from a tough defeat at Fairfield the previous night.
When the dust had cleared at MHS on Tuesday, the home team had dropped its third game in four outings, while the visiting Green Devils stayed hot, using some offense in the early innings, some huge defensive plays, and a complete game five-hitter from right hander Caleb Rothwell to claim an 7-2 victory, which moved them into a first place tie in the big school after getting some help from Peebles, as the Indians knocked off Lynchburg 2-1.
The Devils started early, getting to Manchester starter Jackson Poole for a first inning run, when a base hit by the red-hot Brady Lung drove home R.J. Taylor, who had singled to center earlier in the frame. In the bottom of the first, the Hounds went down in order, all three batters grounding out to Devils’ second baseman Kelby Moore.
In the top of the second, Poole retired the fist two hitters but then the Devils got busy. Rothwell singled to center, followed a base hit to left by Seth Meade. Taylor then hit a rocket to third, which was dropped by Manchester third baseman Cade Colvin to load the bases. The Devils made it 2-0 when Cade Meade singled to center to drive home Rothwell and his brother Seth. An infield hit by Lung brought Taylor home and a walk to Lukas Roush filled the bases again. A ground ball to third off the bat of Wyatt Roades was misplayed, allowing Cade Meade to score with the fourth run of the inning.
The Hounds got their first hit of the game in the bottom of the second when Logan Bell doubled to right with one out, but Rothwell struck out Aaron Lucas and got Karson Reaves on a ground ball to first. In the top of the third, the Devils made it three scoring frames in a row, when a base hit by Taylor drove home Rothwell to make it 6-0.
The home team punched across their first run of the day in the bottom of the fourth, but not until they were thwarted in their half of the third on a sterling defensive play by Lung in right field. With two on and one out, Ryland Wikoff sent a sinking line drive to right and Lung made a diving catch, got up and fired a strike to second to double off the runner and end the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth, though, the Hounds did get one on the board when Poole doubled to left with one away, went to third on a Bell base hit, and later raced home on a passed ball to make it 6-1.
The Devils got that run right back when they batted in the top of the fifth, with reliever Aaron Lucas now on the hill for Manchester. Seth Meade drew a walk, went to third on a two-bagger by Taylor, and scored when Cade Meade hit into a fielder’s choice. The Greyhounds got a two-out run in the bottom of the fifth when Wikoff single, moved to second on a wild pitch, and scored on an error that made it 7-2.
Lucas did an exceptional job in relief, blanking the Devils over the last two innings, but the five-run deficit was too much for the Manchester offense to overcome, especially with Rothwell throwing as well as he was. The North Adams hurler did hit two batters in the bottom of the sixth, but ended the threat by getting Drew Kennedy swinging.
In the bottom of the seventh, Rothwell issued a one-out free pass to Wikoff but then ended the game on a pitcher’s best friend. A ground ball up the middle by Kyle Reaves was fielded by Moore, who simply stepped on the bag and threw to first for the game-ending twin killing.
“We played very well today on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball,”said North Adams head coach Rob Meade about the big win. “We had huge defensive plays in several innings and Brady’s diving catch in right field was huge for us.”
“Our approach at the plate continues to improve and has been a big key for us. I’m very pleased with the progress we are making as a team.”
The offense that Coach Meade spoke of banged out 14 hits in the victory, a trio of players collecting three hits apiece- Seth Meade, R.J. Taylor, and Brady Lung, who upped his average to .405 on the season. Rothwell helped his own cause with a pair of hits and scored twice, while Cade Meade went 2 for 4 and drove home three runs.
Rothwell went the full seven in just 83 pitches, scattering five hits and striking out five hitters in a potent Manchester lineup.
The win improved North Adams to 8-3 on the season, 5-2 in conference action. The Greyhounds fell to 8-6 with the loss, 6-2 in the SHAC.
Both teams were slated to be back in conference action on Thursday, April 22, with every SHAC contest having added importance at this point, and no final scores available at deadline. The Devils were on the road with a trip to Eastern Brown, the first meeting of the season between those two squads, while the Hounds were also on the road with a trip to Whiteoak, a team they knocked off 6-5 on April 16. North Adams had another conference battle set for Friday as they hosted the Fayetteville Rockets.
BOX SCORE
North Adams
141 010 0— 7
Manchester
000 110 0— 2
N. Adams Hitting (AB-R-H-RBI): Rothwell 5-2-2-0, S. Meade 3-2-3-0, R.J. Taylor 5-2-3-1, C. Meade 4-1-2-3, Lung 5-0-3-2, Roush 3-0-1-0, Roades 4-0-0-0, Thatcher 3-0-0-0, E. Taylor 1-0-0-0. Moore 4-0-0-0, Team 37=7=14=6.
Extra-Base Hits: R.J. Taylor 2B
Manchester Hitting (AB-R-H-RBI): Colvin 4-0-1-0, Wikoff 3-1-1-0, Kyle Reaves 4-0-0-0, Poole 3-1-1-0, Bell 3-0-2-0, Lucas 2-0-0-0, Karson Reaves 2-0-0-0, Neria 2-0-0-0, Ballinger 0-0-0-0, Kennedy 3-0-0-0, Team 26-2-5-0.
Extra-Base Hits: Poole 2B, Bell 2B
N. Adams Pitching: Rothwell (W) 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 83 pitches
Manchester Pitching: Poole (L) 2.1 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 66 pitches
Lucas 4.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 54 pitches
