Corporal Miller accumulated 12 hits, and starting pitcher Josh Smith escaped numerous jams during a 13-7 victory over the Tyrone Legion, but, for the second time this season, Tyrone may have put the final nail in their own coffin with self-inflicted miscues.
“What transpired here today was very similar to what happened in our 10-1 loss to Barkman Oil,” Tyrone Legion Manager Mike Boytim said. “We made too many mistakes with two outs, and at times we gave them four or five outs an inning. Unfortunately Tyler Golden has been on the mound in both circumstances, and we’re going to have to work on playing better defense behind him.”
Although the Legion made five errors that ultimately cost them seven runs, Golden didn’t help himself by walking 11 batters.
“Tyler was right around the strike zone most of the game, but at certain times it was hard to tell where the zone was,” Boytim said. “Some of those walks I attribute to some fatigue and frustration. We’re going to have to give him some time off the mound to refresh his arm in these next few games.”
Casey Wombacher, who walked twice, had three singles and three runs batted in for Corporal Miller, whose win moved them to 2-1 on the season.
While Smith was holding the Tyrone Legion scoreless in the first two innings, Corporal Miller got to Golden for six runs, four of them unearned, in the first two innings.
Facing a 6-0 deficit in the third inning, the Tyrone Legion was able to load the bases, but only scored a single tally on a Jamie Levinson sacrifice fly.
After Corporal Miller stretched their lead to 8-1 in the bottom of the third inning, the bottom of Tyrone’s order staged a mini-rally capped off by a two-run single by Ben Lynn that brought home Jesse Hertzler and Shayne Tate.
Tyrone pulled to within three runs in the top of the sixth inning by scoring four runs. Hertzler reached on an error in front of Lynn and Justin Schopp walks before Golden singled in one run, and Tyler Gillmen added two more with a single of his own. Tyler Hoover walked an out later to reload the bases, but the Legion could scratch out only one more run on a Brock Anders’ sacrifice fly.
Corporal Miller added three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. Each runner that scored had reached base via a walk.
“Tyler didn’t have a lot left in the tank when he went out there for the sixth, but he did his best and gave it his strongest effort, and that’s all you can really ask for,” Boytim said. “I wish we could have gone to a reliever, but with Jamie starting tomorrow, and no one else available for one reason or another, I asked Tyler to go back out there and he kept us in the game.”
Lynn drew a walk to raise his on base percentage from the ninth slot in the lineup to .563 in the top of the seventh inning, but Tyrone was unable to stage a comeback.
“We made a lot of mistakes and hurt ourselves today, but we are at the start of a long season, and need to concentrate on the positives right now,” Boytim said. “We committed five errors, walked 11 guys, left a lot of people in scoring position again and yet we only lost to one of the elite teams in this league by six runs. We’ll get things straightened out and come back stronger when we meet this team again.”
The Tyrone Legion returns to action today at 6 p.m. when they take on Park Furniture at Geesey Park.
Sprankle’s Auto Outlet Notes: With the loss, Tyrone fell to 0-3 on the road, but they are 3-0 at home… Despite making five errors, Tyrone flashed glimpses of defensive brilliance by turning a double play with the bases loaded in the sixth inning and on a diving catch of a foul ball by Gillmen to close out the fifth inning.
Corporal Miller 13 Tyrone Legion 7
TYRONE LEGION – Schopp, cf, 4-2-2; Golden, p, 5-1-2; Gillmen, rf, 2-0-1; Levinson, ss, 3-0-0; Hoover, 1b, 3-0-0; Conrad, cr-pr, 0-0-0; Anders, c, 2-0-0; Tate, lf, 3-1-1; Perry, lf, 1-0-0; Hertzler, 3b, 4-2-0; Lynn, 2b, 2-1-1. TOTALS 29-7-7.
CORPORAL MILLER – Vogel, cf, 3-2-2; P. Gaeto, 1b, 2-3-0; Criste, 3b, 3-1-0; M. Gaeto, 3b, 2-0-1; Wombacher, c, 3-1-3; Hopkins, ss, 5-1-2; Durbin, dh, 5-0-1; Smith, p, 0-0-0; Snyder, lf, 4-0-1; Henderson, 2b, 2-2-1; Gehl, rf, 2-3-1. TOTALS 31-13-12.
Tyrone Legion 001 204 0 7- 7-5
Corporal Miller 152 023 X 13-12-3
2B: Gehl
RBI: Lynn 2, Gillmen 2, Golden, Levinson, Anders, Wombacher 3, Hopkins 2, M. Gaeto, Vogel, Durbin.
SO: Smith 5, Golden 3.
BB: Golden 11, Smith 6.
WP: Smith LP: Golden
