Two things happened for the Tyrone Golden Eagles yesterday that had to have them thinking it was their day.
Second baseman Mike Moore homered as the Eagles’ No. 2 hitter and catcher Chris Decker belted a round tripper from the nine-hole, giving Tyrone its first two home runs this season.
The problem was that the surprising productivity didn’t permeate the rest of the line up. The Golden Eagles managed only six other hits and 1 RBI in a 4-3, extra-inning loss to Juniata Valley in Alexandria.
The Green Hornets won it in the bottom of the ninth when shortstop Drew Peterson, who finished 3-for-5 with a run, singled up the middle off reliever Johnny Shaffer with two outs, plating Ben Mohnkern.
The run not only delivered Tyrone its eighth loss of the season, but it also spoiled one of the Eagles’ strongest pitching performances in recent memory. Senior Matt Brooks started and gave up three earned runs without walking a batter, pitching into the eighth inning. He exited in favor of Shaffer, who closed out the eighth before surrendering the game-winner in the ninth.
“He deserved to win,” said Tyrone manager Dustin Schoening. “He pitched a heck of a game. Pitching and defensively, we’re right there. We’ve just got to find it offensively.”
Brooks’ only mistake came in the bottom of the third inning when he gave up a two-out home run to second baseman Tyler Lalli that gave Valley the lead, 3-2. Aside from the one hiccup, Brooks was solid, and got stronger as the game went on. Over the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, he threw only 16 pitches – seven in the fifth, five in the sixth and four in the seventh – allowing him to continue on the hill into the extra frames.
In truth, he was matched every step of the way by Hornet starter Zack Boyd, who allowed eight hits over eight innings, walking one and striking out five, before being pulled for the ninth in favor of Ethan Devore.
“Give them credit,” Schoening said. “They kept coming and their pitcher kept us off balance. We needed clutch hitting. It’s not that we aren’t hitting the ball. We hit it hard. But as far as clutch hits – it wasn’t happening.”
To Schoening’s point – over the last four innings, with the game knotted 3-3, the Golden Eagles managed just a single hit.
In the third, after Decker’s homer gave Tyrone a 2-1 lead, the Eagles were poised to break the game open, putting runners on second and third with one out. But Brooks and Doug Rudy struck out in back-to-back plate appearances to end the threat and kill the momentum.
“We’re getting guys in the right situations, but we haven’t been able to get that big hit,” said Schoening.
The one time the Eagles did produce a clutch hit allowed them to tie the game after falling behind by a run. In the fifth, Aaron Cunningham legged out an infield single and advanced to second on a errant throw by Terry Musser. One out later, Shaffer singled up the middle to bring Cunningham home and tie it at 3-3.
Tyrone jumped to an early lead when Moore jumped on the first offering he saw from Boyd, depositing it over the fence in left for his first career home run. Valley answered in the bottom of the frame when Peterson doubled and scored on a pick-off move by Brooks that went into centerfield.
Decker’s home run – his first varsity hit – made it 2-1 before Lalli’s shot gave Valley the lead back.
JUNIATA VALLEY 4 TYRONE 3
TYRONE – Cunningham, cf, 4-1-2; Moore, 2b, 3-1-1; Shaffer, 1b-p, 4-0-2; Brooks, p-3b, 4-0-0; Rudy, ss, 4-0-1; Taylor, dh, 4-0-0; Hoover, 3b, 0-0-0; Hunter, lf, 4-0-1; Loose, rf, 2-0-0; Brush, 2-0-0; Decker, c, 3-1-1. TOTALS: 34-3-8.
JUNIATA VALLEY – Peterson, ss, 5-1-3; Lalli, 2b, 4-1-1; Devore, 1b-p, 4-0-1; Boyd, p-1b, 4-0-1; Myers, lf, 4-0-0; R. Musser, lf, 0-0-0; T. Musser, 3b, 4-0-1; Mohnkern, rf, 4-1-2; McCrum, c, 4-0-0; Johnson, cf, 3-2-1. TOTALS: 36-4-10.
TYRONE 101 010 000 – 3-8-2
JUNIATA VALLEY 102 000 001 – 4-10-1
E: Cunningham, Brooks, T. Musser
HR: Moore, Decker, Lalli
2B: Cunningham, Peterson, Mohnkern
RBI: Moore, Decker, Shaffer, Lalli 2, Peterson
SO: Boyd 5, Devore 1, Shaffer 1, Brooks 4.
BB: Boyd 1, Shaffer 1
WP: Devore LP: Shaffer
