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Freshmen lead Fleming County to 4-3 win over Rose Hill
Tuesday, April 22, 2008 10:47 PM EDT
A triple into the right field corner from junior first baseman Daniel Harmon plated courtesy runner Trevor Vice with what proved to be the winning run with two outs in the sixth. Andrew Earlywine led off the frame with a bloop base hit into short right field, stole second and scored the tying run on a double to left-center from freshman catcher Zach McRoberts. Vice, another Panther freshman, ran for McRoberts and came around to score the winning run on Harmon's three-base hit.
The rally was necessary because the Royals came up three unearned runs in the fifth inning off freshman right-hander Clay Hampton, who was making his first varsity start on the mound. The Rose Hill rally began with back-to-back singles from Troy Huffine and Alex Malloy, bringing leadoff hitter Ryan Whetzel to the plate.
Whetzel laid down a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt towards the mound, and Hampton made one of his few mistakes on the day when his throw to first base got away, scoring both baserunners, and sending Whetzel all the way to third base. He scored on a groundout to second base an out later to give the Royals a 3-2 lead. Jacob Mullin then blooped a single to left field and moved to second on another throwing error by Hampton, when he attempted a pickoff throw.
Hampton picked Mullin off first base the previous inning, but his defense bailed him out when the next batter, Scott Gambill singled to left field. Panther leftfielder Jacob Bell came up firing and nailed Mullin at the plate to end the inning.
Hampton, who had pitched four scoreless innings to open the game, settled down after that point and earned the victory. He scattered seven hits over 6 1/3 innings, issued three walks and struck out two.
Sophomore left-hander Chris Smoot came on in relief of Hampton in the seventh inning with a pair of Royals in scoring position. With one out, Whetzel reached on an error, and Ethan Parsons lined a double to right field, bringing first-year Panther coach Brad Price to the mound to make a pitching change. Smoot earned the save by striking out Conner Robinson and retiring Mullin on a fly ball to right field.
The young Fleming County team, which evened its season mark at 6-6, was led by their freshman class. Along with Hampton's effort on the hill, freshman shortstop Joe Hunt scored the first Panther run of the game in the first inning. After leading off with a single, he moved to second on a base hit to left field from Harmon, went to third on a groundout, and scored on a Mullin wild pitch.
Mullin, a sophomore right-hander, allowed only one other run before the sixth inning rally, a single tally in the fourth. Fleming County third baseman Austin Hart, also a freshman, lined a base hit to center field, advanced to second on an error, went to third on a McRoberts single, and scored on Justin Underwood's sacrifice fly.
Price was pleased with the win, but would like to see more offense from his club.
"Clay pitched a very good game for us and Chris came in focused and got the job done," Price said. "Joe Hunt has worked his way to the leadoff spot, he's hitting better than anyone on the team right now, and I've been trying to mix up the lineup because our bats have been struggling lately. Zach got a big hit and Daniel got a big hit too when we needed it late in the game, and I'll take a win anyday."
The Panthers, who travel to East Carter today, next play at home next Tuesday, when they face Powell County.
Rose Hill 000 030 0 3 7 2
Fleming 100 102 X 4 9 3
WP -- Hampton, LP -- Mullin.
Hitting leaders: RH -- Whetzel R; Parsons 2B; Robinson RBI; Mullin 1-3; Gambill 3-3; Huffine 1-3, R; Malloy 1-3, R. FC -- J. Hunt 2-4, R; Harmon 2-3, 3B, RBI; Bell 1-4; Hart 1-3, R; Earlywine 1-3, R; McRoberts 2-3, 2B, RBI; Underwood RBI.
Records: Rose Hill Christian 3-13, Fleming County 6-6.
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