North Adams first baseman Cooper Roush went 3 for 5 at the plate in the Devils’ 15-1 win at West Union on May 1. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
West Union starter Nate Fooce delivers a pitch during the Dragons’ home loss to North Adams on May 1. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
Southern Hills Athletic Conference baseball came to West Union High School on May 1 as the Dragons hosted the North Adams Green Devils, the second meeting of the season between the two teams. The Devils took the first match up 13-1 on April 23 and the outcome last week mirrored that earlier outing. The Devils broke open a close game with 13 runs in their final four at-bats, eventually claiming a 15-1 win, their seventh of the spring.
The pitching match up for last Wednesday’s game featured two right handers, Nate Fooce for the Dragons and Logan Shupert for the visiting Devils.After a slow start, the North Adams offense ended up banging out 14 hits, led by a 3 for 5 performance by first baseman Cooper Roush.
The visitors struck first, putting up a candlestick in their first at-bat, Caleb Rothwell coming home on a double to center by Ethan Taylor. North Adams added another run in the top of the second after Cash Hupp singled and came home later in the frame on a West Union error.
The score remained 2-0 until the top half of the fourth when the Devils struck for three runs, the first coming home on an Asher Young base hit. A bases loaded walk to Hupp forced home the second run and Young raced home on a wild pitch to make it 5-0.
The Devils began to pull away in the top of the fifth with two runs, one coming in on a Taylor sacrifice fly and the other on a Shupert base hit. In the top of the sixth, a Colin Tolle RBI single made it 8-0 and Toole came home on an Easton Daulton sacrifice fly. The Devils made it a 10-run lead on a Cooper Roush single, leaving them three outs away from a mercy rule victory.
After five scoreless frames from Shupert, North Adams head coach Brady Johnson called on Cash Hupp in relief and the Dragons picked up a run to extend the game to the seventh inning. Jacob Day smashed a two-out double to right and scored on a Hupp wild pitch to make it 10-1.
To finish things off, the Devils tacked on a five-spot in their half of the seventh with Tyler Carson on the mound for the home team. North Adams got run-scoring singles from Daulton, Shupert and Carsyn Raines plus a two-run double from Rothwell to take a commanding 15-1 advantage.
Hupp retired the Dragons in order in the bottom of the seventh as the Devils secured their seventh win of the spring.
With is five scoreless innings on the mound, Logan Shupert picked up his second win of the spring and lowered his earned run average to 2.72. The three-hit day by Cooper Roush raised his season batting average to .455. Every hitter in the Devils’ starting lineup had at least one hit in the win.
The Dragons managed just three hits in the loss, those coming off the bats of Jacob Day, Matty Byron and Wesley Ellis.
North Adams
110 323 5 —15
West Union
000 001 0 —1
N. Adams Hitting (AB-R-H-RBI): Tolle 3-2-1-1, Daulton 4-1-1-2, Rothwell 3-2-1-2, Taylor 2-2-2-2, Shiveley 0-1-0-0, Roush 5-1-3-1, Young 4-2-2-1, Shupert 4-0-2-2, Hupp 3-2-1-1, Raines 3-1-1-1, White 0-1-0-0, Team 31-15-14-13.
Extra-Base Hits: Rothwell 2B, Taylor 2B, 3B
W. Union Hitting (AB-R-H-RBI): Adams 3-0-0-0, Fulton 3-0-0-0, Day 3-1-1-0, Byron 3-0-1-0, Ellis 3-0-1-0, Fooce 2-0-0-0, Abbott 3-0-0-0, Ballinger 2-0-0-0, Carson 2-0-0-0, Team 24-1-3-0.
Extra-Base Hits: Day 2B
N. Adams Pitching:
Shupert (W) 5 IP, 2 H, o R, 1 BB, 8 K, 66 pitches
Hupp 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 K, 28 pitches
W. Union Pitching:
Fooce (L) 5 IP, 5 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 7 BB, 4 K, 102 pitches
Carson 2 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 34 pitches
