Reagan wins 5-1 to retain two-game lead in 26-5A
By Mark Kusenberger
tsrnsports.com
Special to SAsports.com
Going into Tuesday night, the MacArthur Brahmas were a hot team, winning 10 of their last 12.
Reagan was hotter, winning 12 of their last 13.
MacArthur was hitting like crazy, scoring 10 or more runs in 6 consecutive games.
Reagan was pitching Casey Selsor, who’d struck out 16 Brahmas in pitching a 4-hit shutout on February 26th.
Reagan (23-2) won 5-1 to remain undefeated in District 26-5A play.
MacArthur, with the loss combined with Judson’s win overall Churchill, is now in a three-way tie in the loss column for fourth place with Churchill and Judson.
Selsor (7-0) was almost as dominant as the first meeting with MacArthur, giving up just 3 hits and 1 run, walking two, hitting one batter, and striking out 9; he needed just 109 pitches to complete the game.
Reagan took the lead in the third inning when Derrick Walls, taking advantage of a wind blowing from left to right field, homered down the right field line to drive home Brad Hall and stake Selsor to a 2-0 lead.
Reagan threatened against Mac starter Nathan Olson (4-3), but had trouble hitting with runners in scoring position. Vinny Postert led off the 4th with a walk, promptly stole second, then went to third went a pickoff throw was muffed by an infielder into center field. Olson struck out James Spiers looking, struck out Ben Mrachek swinging, then got Brad Hall to fly out to left, escaping the inning with the score still 2-0.
The Rattlers threatened again in the 5th when Robby Van Cour reached when his leadoff bunt was muffed for an error. Van Cour went to second on a Walls groundout, then went to third on a passed ball. But Olson struck out Jordan Mengele on a full count, walked Selsor on a full count, and struck out Ruiz to escape another jam.
Olson ran out of luck in the sixth. Vinny Postert led off with a walk, then promptly stole second. DH James Spiers doubled him to third – Postert wasn’t sure if right fielder Aaron McNeil would catch the ball. Ryne Head, the right fielder for whom Spiers was DHing, came in to run for Spiers. With another runner at third and less than two out, Olson struck out Mrachek. Then Olson fell off the tightrope when Brad Hall doubled down the right field line. Postert scored, but again a Reagan runner went only from second to third on a double, as Head had trouble judging Hall’s hard-hit ball.
Nonetheless, the Hall double chased Olson, and Caleb Whitley came on to pitch. With the infield still drawn in, Robby Van Cour slapped a single past the shortstop to score Head and Hall’s pinch runner Ryan Witte.
In the Reagan sixth, two Rattlers failed to score from second and stopped at third on doubles, while one Rattlers scored from second on a single.
Only one Brahma made it past second base. In the fourth, Michael Garza hit a one-out double and went to third on a wild pitch. But after Siller walked, Eric Evans hit into a 6-4-3 double play – Walls to Postert to Hall – to end the threat.
In the seventh, Garza took the second pitch he saw on the arm and went to first. After a Siller grounder advanced him to second, Garza scored on a basehit by Evans. Evans’ pinch runner Brett McCord was stranded at first when Selsor struck out defensive replacement Brandon Meadows and got Wylie Crawford to fly out to right field to end the game.
|
