Freshmen hurlers hold off Lyons for twinbill sweep

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN BY STAFF
A couple of freshman pitchers kept the Lyons Lions at bay long enough to enable Hillsboro to take a 20-10, 11-3 doubleheader sweep Friday at Memorial Field April 7.



Jerod Metcalf and Dustin Jost, battling a blustery and biting north wind, each put in a solid performance in their varsity starting debuts.



Metcalf (1-0) threw all five innings in the first game, which was abbreviated by the run rule. He gave up 10 runs on 15 hits, but walked only three batters.



Jost (1-0) walked six batters, but allowed only three runs on four hits in six innings. Tyson Ratzlaff pitched the seventh inning for HHS.



?The good thing about those kids is that they were able to throw their off-speed pitches for strikes,? coach Phil Oelke said of his two freshmen. ?When you can do that, you?re going to do well.?



Both pitchers were helped by considerable offensive support from their teammates.



In the first game, Hillsboro?s No. 3 and 4 batters, Dan Funk and Kane Adams, combined for 6-of-8 hitting and seven RBIs to pace Hillsboro.



Adams hit his third home run of the season in fourth, a line drive over the right field fence. Grant Brubacher also homered, a three-run shot in the fifth.



Hillsboro trailed 4-2 after one inning, but scored five in the second to take a 7-4 lead. Lyons came back with five runs of their own in the third, but Hillsboro scored six more in their half of the inning to take the lead for good. Funk?s three-run single was the key blow.



In the second game, a five-run fourth inning broke open a close contest. Ratzlaff started the fireworks with a powerful home run and Brubacher added a two-run triple.



Jeremy Loewen went 3-for-4 with a double and scored three runs for Hillsboro.



Oelke was pleased with his team?s offensive play up and down the lineup.



?The first four holes hit pretty well at Nickerson (on Tuesday), but I thought we did a better job one through nine this time around,? he said.



?Hopefully, it continues,? he added. ?Last year we started off fairly strong with the bats and then cooled off for awhile. Hopefully, another year?s experience is going to help quite a bit.?



Nickerson?A mistake in the home team?s scorebook may have cost Hillsboro a sweep of their season-opening doubleheader at Nickerson April 4.



After the third out in the top of the seventh inning, the Nickerson team left the field claiming a 13-12 victory.



Scorebooks kept both by Hillsboro and by a reporter for the Hutchinson News showed the score to be 13-13. However, the home scorebook is the official one and, even after a post-game conference with the coaches, the umpires could not reverse the outcome, said Trojan coach Phil Oelke.



?I did call the state later and they said there wasn?t much they could do,? he said, adding that he has made other teams aware of the issue and encouraged them to keep close track of scoring in the future.



The sour ending to the nightcap took the glow off a strong offensive performance in the team?s first outing of the season.



The Trojans won the opener 18-7 in a game called after five innings because of the 10-run rule. Senior Kane Adams drove in six runs, including a grand slam home run to fuel an 11-run outburst in the first inning.



The Trojan cause was helped by eight Nickerson errors, leading to 12 unearned runs.



Layne Frick (1-0) gave up seven runs on eight hits in four innings for the Trojans. Grant Brubacher closed the game with a hitless fifth inning.



In the second game, Hillsboro played catch up most of the night, coming back after trailing by scores of 6-2, 9-5 and then 13-9 after five.



Nathan Fish singled to lead off the sixth. A pop out, error and a walk to Shawn Hughbanks loaded the bases.



Brubacher then drew a walk to bring home a run. After Corey Thiessen struck out, a wild pitch brought home James Bina. Then Dan Funk singled in Hughbanks for the third run.



Adams followed with a single to drive in Brubacher and tie the score at 13-13. Brubacher?s run was not recorded in the home scorebook and the scoreboard was not in operation either.



Fish gave up eight earned runs in three innings of pitching. Jerod Metcalf gave up one run in two innings and Dustin Jost gave up four runs in one inning.



The Trojans took their 3-1 record against Moundridge yesterday. On Friday, they travel to Lindsborg for a doubleheader against Smoky Valley. The first game will begin at 4:30 p.m. at Memorial Field.

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