Junior Parker Hayslip went 4 for 4 and drove home two runs to help lead the Manchester Greyhounds to a 13-3 conference win over Fairfield on May 17. The win clinched the small school division title for the Hounds. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
Manchester first baseman Carson Inman drove home three runs in the Greyhounds’ 13-3 win over Fairfield on May 17. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
For a first-year head coach, things couldn’t have gone much better to this point for Manchester’s Trey Meade. In year number one at the helm, following in the footsteps of his father Rob, who coached baseball for many years at North Adams, Trey and his pack of Hounds have put together a regular season that has resulted in a Southern Hills Athletic Conference small school division championship.
With their 13-3 run rule win over second place Fairfield on Saturday, May 17, the Hounds took a three-game lead in the standings with only two conference games remaining on their schedule, make up games with Ripley (played May 19) and Fayetteville on May 21. Sandwiched in between those two contests the Greyhounds will open Division VI district tournament play on May 20, hosting Eastern Pike in a quarterfinal battle.
In their second win over Fairfield this spring, the Hounds broke open a close game with a pair of six-run innings, led by a 4 for 4 performance at the plate from Parker Hayslip and a complete game on the mound from Thomas Barnhart. The win improved Manchester baseball to 11-4 overall, 7-2 in conference play.
The Greyhounds scored first on Saturday, putting up a match stick in the bottom of the second on an RBI fielder’s choice ground ball off the bat of Traevyn Hilderbrand. The visiting Lions tied the game with one in the top of the third before the home team broke it open in the bottom half with their first six-spot. A sacrifice fly from Carson Inman brought home the first run and after drawing a walk, Leland Horner later raced home on a wild pitch into the vast expanse behind home plate.
A run-scoring base hit by Hayslip made it 4-1 followed by a Hilderbrand knock to make it a four-run advantage. A Luke Applegate single drove home two more and gave the home side a 7-1 lead after three.
In the top of the fifth, Fairfield drew close , scoring two off of Barnhart, but the game came to an abrupt end in the bottom half when the Hounds plated six more to secure the run-rule win.
Bryce Young reached on a dropped third strike and moved around to third on a two-base hit to left by Hayslip. One out later, Applegate was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A Clayton Colvin single to right moved all the runners up one base and brought Young home, and an infield hit by Barnhart did the same to make it 9-3. Inman lined a base hit to center to score two more and later in the frame Barnhart came across on a wild pitch to put the Hounds one run away from sending everyone home. The fourth hit of the game by Hayslip turned out to be a walk-off winner as he drove Inman home with the sixth run of the inning and the marker that gave the Hounds the required 10-run lead to enforce the mercy rule and bring the game to a close, wrapping up the small school crown for the Greyhounds in the process.
Hayslip’s four-hit day also included two runs scored and two driven in as the winners got hits from eight different players in a great team effort at the plate. First baseman Carson Inman drove home three runs with Luke Applegate and Traevyn Hilderbrand each knocking in a pair. Barnhart went five innings on the hill, allowing just three hits and three runs while striking out seven Fairfield hitters.
“I am ecstatic for the players, the school, and the community,” said Coach Meade. “I think this is the first SHAC championship in over a decade, which is cool to be a part of. It’s a nice reward for the time and effort my players and staff have put into this season. We will take the time to celebrate, but the job isn’t done. We want to keep building off this and go attempt to play our best ball in the tournament.”
Fairfield
001 02 —3
Manchester
016 06 —13
Fairfield Hitting (AB-R-H-RBI): Ahsaruk 2-0-0-0, Cockerill 2-1-1-0, Fauber 3-0-0-0, Humphreys 2-0-0-0, Matthews 2-0-1-0, Miller 3-0-0-0, Rice 1-1-0-0, Willey 1-0-1-1, Zimmermann 1-1-0-1, Team 17-3-3-2.
Manchester Hitting (AB-R-H-RBI): Applegate 3-1-1-2, Barnhart 2-1-1-1, Colvin 3-2-1-1, doyle 1-1-0-0, Hayslip 4-2-4-2, Hilderbrand 3-1-1-2, Horner 2-2-1-1, Inman 3-1-1-3, Rickett 3-1-1-0, Young 1-1-0-0, Team 25-13-11-12.
Extra-Base Hits: Hayslip 2B
Fairfield Pitching
Humphreys (L)- 4.1 IP, 11 H, 13 R, 12 ER, 7 BB, 2 K, 106 pitches
Zimmermann- 0.1 IP 1 H, 2 BB, 1 K, 14 pitches
Manchester Pitching
Barnhart (W)- 5 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, 92 pitches
