ORIGINALLY WRITTEN STAFF
Hillsboro followed a close 5-2 win with a 16-2 route for a
doubleheader sweep of Marion Friday on the Warriors? home field.
In the opener, Hillsboro?s Layne Frick and Marion?s Jeremy Hanes
locked up in a pitching duel that wasn?t decided until the last out.
With the score tied 2-2 through five innings, Hillsboro squeezed into
the lead when Nathan Fish stroked a one-out single, then moved to
second on a walk to Jeremy Loewen. Frick helped his own cause with an
RBI single that scored Fish.
Hillsboro added a couple of insurance runs in the seventh. Daniel Funk
led off with a single. After Kane Adams struck out, Tyson Ratzlaff
doubled, scoring Funk. Ratzlaff then scored on a single by Fish.
Frick allowed only four hits and struck out four in seven innings to
raise his record to 4-0. Only one Marion run was earned.
In the nightcap, the Trojans erupted for an eight-run third inning to
break open a 2-0 game.
Hillsboro had only four hits in the inning, but was helped by a walk
and three Warrior errors. Grant Brubacher and James Bina each drove in
two runs.
The Trojans added six more runs in the fifth. Ratzlaff?s two-run
single highlighted a four-hit uprising. For the game, the Trojan
second baseman went 3-for-4 with four runs batted in.
Also swinging a potent bat were Brubacher, who was 2-for-4 with four
RBIs, and Loewen, who went 3-for-4 with one RBI.
Freshman Dustin Jost (3-0) started the game with three and two-thirds
innings of hitless baseball. He allowed only two hits over
five-innings.
Jost was touched for two runs in the fifth when he walked the bases
full, then gave up a two-out, two-run double to Jamey Cooper.
Clay Center?Hillsboro?s hot bats were abruptly?and completely?shut
down April 25 when Clay Center?s David Ouellette threw a five-inning,
no-hit 10-0 game at the Trojans to end Hillsboro?s win streak at nine
games.
Hillsboro won the opener in more traditional fashion, 15-9, with two
runs batted in from Grant Brubacher, Daniel Funk and Nathan Fish.
Combine Ouellette?s no-hitter, the first thrown at the Trojans in the
two-year history of the program, with seven errors by Hillsboro and
you have one unhappy coach.
?This was the ugliest performance I have seen in two seasons for HHS
baseball,? coach Phil Oelke said. ?It seems at this level, and
sometimes the next level, that if players don?t hit well they take it
on the field with them and it impacts their defensive play.
?Even if we had been hitting the ball, it would have been tough to win
with the number of errors that were committed,? he added.
Freshman Jerod Metcalf took the loss, his first after opening with two
impressive wins. He allowed 10 runs?only five earned?on five hits.
?Metcalf didn?t throw a bad game, but we struggled with our fielding,?
Oelke said.
The first game was business as usual for Hillsboro: high scoring. The
Trojans started slowly, though, trailing 2-0 after two innings.
But the Trojans opened the third with consecutive walks to Ronn Coates
and Brubacher. Corey Thiessen reached on an error, scoring Coates, who
had stolen second and third. Brubacher then scored on a wild pitch.
After Funk walked, Kane Adams struck out and James Bina flied out.
Jeremy Loewen walked to keep the inning going. Then Fish smacked a
two-run single and Layne Frick followed with another RBI single to
give Hillsboro a 5-2 lead.
After Clay Center tied the game in the bottom of the third, the
Trojans came back with four runs, punctuated with RBI hits by Funk and
Bina.
Hillsboro put the game away in the sixth with five more runs.
Brubacher, Thiessen and Funk contributed consecutive RBI hits to fuel
the surge.
Fish, who pitched all seven innings, gave up eight earned runs on 10
hits and three walks, but Oelke was pleased with his performance.
?Nathan threw another solid game for us,? Oelke said. ?I wasn?t very
pleased with our defense and we didn?t hit the ball very well.
However, the kids did what they needed to do to win the game.?
Hillsboro was scheduled to host a tough Wichita Collegiate team
yesterday. Next Tuesday, they?ll close out their regular season with a
Trojans take two from Warriors, 5-2, 16-2
