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Royals' Burney outduels Saints' McKay, blanks St. Patrick, 1-0
Thursday, April 24, 2008 3:47 PM EDT
The game turned into a rare old-fashioned pitchers' duel, with the Royals edging the Saints, 1-0, on the strength of an unearned run scored in the fifth inning.
Sophomore left-hander Keagen Burney tossed the complete game for Mason County, allowing only four hits, walking one and striking out six. The tough-luck losing pitcher was Saints freshman right-hander Jacob McKay, who gave up four hits in six innings. McKay had given up just two walks before tiring in the seventh, when the first two Royals reached via the free pass.
Jon Stwarka came on in relief with runners at second and third and no outs. The southpaw ended the Mason County threat by fanning Ryne King and Richie Cox and retiring Eric Meadows on a high pop to shortstop Chris Owens in short left field.
"Keagen pitched a whale of a game," said Mason County coach Mike Murphy. "Without him throwing as well as he did today, we probably would've lost the ball game. We weren't patient at the plate and were overly aggressive at times, but Jacob deserves all the credit. He did a good job for them and threw strikes."
The lone run was scored as a result of the only errors committed during the well-played contest. With two outs and nobody on base after the Saints pulled off an unusual 6-3-5 double play, King singled to center field and advanced to second on an error, the second of the inning by St. Patrick. He came in to score when the next batter, Cox, hit a ground ball to Owens, whose throw got away from first baseman Nick Anderson for the third error of the inning.
Anderson also left the game as a result of a collision with Cox as he attempted to catch the throw.
The injury was just one of many in recent days for St. Patrick, according to coach Mallory Denham.
"We began the season with 19 players and we're down to 11 now," said Denham.
Anderson's replacement in the lineup, eighth grader Ryan Swolsky, lined a base hit to center field in his first at-bat, but was forced from the game when he injured his shoulder while swinging in his second at-bat in the sixth inning.
Denham was in complete agreement with Murphy about the excellent pitching and lack of hitting in the game.
"We've got to hit the ball better, we hit it at times today, but not when we really needed it," said Denham. "Jacob did an excellent job and this was only the second time he's ever pitched. Jon came in and got their big dogs out. I'm also very proud of all these guys, they showed a lot of heart today."
The Royals will travel to Russell on Friday for their next game, and the Saints are off until Monday, when they visit Paris.
Mason County 000 010 0 1 4 0
St. Patrick 000 000 0 0 4 3
WP -- Burney. LP -- McKay.
Hitting leaders: MC -- King 1-4, R; Cox 1-3, SB; Lykins 2-3, SB.
SP -- Anderson 1-1, SB; Swolsky 1-2; Cropper 1-3; McKay 1-2, 2B.
Records: Mason County 6-12, St. Patrick 1-9.
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