Having defeated Abilene six consecutive times last season, the Legion Post 366 baseball team was, perhaps, due for the 6-4 loss it suffered in the opener. Or, perhaps, the intermittant drizzle that fell throughout the night and eventually forced the cancelation of the second game was more to blame.
Either way, Hillsboro?s Babe Ruth season began with a fielding error off the bat of the Rebels leadoff hitter. The miscue turned into a 1-0 deficit one out into starting pitcher Tyler Ediger?s summer season, and like the rain, the bad bounces kept on coming.
Rebels starter Slade Volkman kept the error-bug from biting by striking out the side in the bottom of the first. Abilene scored its second run when Volkman?s wicked line drive caromed off of Ediger?s leg for a single leading off the second.
Ediger stayed in the game, but a walk, a fielder?s choice and a single staked Volkman to a 2-0 advantage. The Rebels lead vanished when, with two outs in the bottom of the second, a pair of Abilene errors allowed Hillsboro to tie the game.
The Rebels regained the lead with a lead triple followed by a sacrifice, but Post 366 countered to make it 4-3 through three innings.
Another unearned run allowed by Hillsboro tied the game with no outs in the fifth, and Abilene?s offense tacked on one more for a 5-4 lead.
Hillsboro?s best chance to recover came in the form of a 1-out triple in the bottom half of the inning, but Volkman stranded the runner at third.
An insurance run the Rebels scored in the top of the sixth proved unnecessary as Volkman struck out three straight batters to end. Volkman finished with 13 strikeouts over against against six hits and a walk.
Coming?Post 366 hosted Lyons at 6 p.m. Tuesday and will hold a round robin tournament over the weekend.
Saturday?s tournament action will feature four games: Salina vs. Post 366 at noon, Lyons vs. Salina at 2:30, Abilene vs. Lyons at 5:00 and Post 366 vs. Abilene at 7:30.
On Sunday, Salina will play Abilene at 2 p.m., to be followed by Lyons vs. Post 366 at 4:30.
Hillsboro will meet Marion at 6 p.m. June 16 at Memorial Field, and plays its first road games of the season June 18 at Abilene.
Information for this article came from the Abilene Reflector-Chronicle?s accounts of these games.
