Three games. Seven hits. One run. Three losses.
The numbers keep getting worse for the Tyrone baseball team.
The Golden Eagles’ 5-0 loss yesterday to Indian Valley at the Harry K. Sickler Athletic Fields left them shutout for the second straight game and brought their losing streak to five consecutive games.
But more than simply losing, it’s the way Tyrone is losing. The modus operandi has been to play well and ride pitching and defense for half the game or more before the lack of offense becomes too much to overcome. Eventually, the opponent scores, and the Golden Eagles have few answers.
“You have to be (frustrated) in this situation a little bit,” said Tyrone manager Dustin Schoening. “I think the guys understand the big picture – that they need to hang in there, because we’re not that far away and we’re playing a brutal schedule.”
Yesterday’s game fit the bill to a T. Starter Matt Brooks confounded the one-loss Warriors (6-1) up to the sixth inning. It was 1-0, and Valley’s only run was unearned.
But in the sixth, something had to give. With one out, Devon Pearson singled and scored on a double by Austin Long, one of the few times Valley hit Brooks hard all game. After Brooks walked the bases loaded, reliever Randy Hoover came on the end the damage, surrendering only a sacrifice fly to left off the bat of Ethan Fultz that made it 3-0.
But even at 3-0, there was little Tyrone could do. Over the last four innings, the Eagles mustered just one hit, and winning pitcher Ryan Keefer set them down in order in the sixth and seventh. Tyrone had three total hits to follow up on a pair of two-hit performances against Bald Eagle Area and Central Mountain.
“Give them credit. They’re a quality team,” Schoening said. “Their pitcher was throwing hard, and he had a pretty good curve ball. He kept us off balance. We were making contact. It’s not like we were striking out. We were hitting it right at them.”
Valley added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh, but the Warriors already had more than enough, despite the fact that, defensively, the Eagles continued to play as solid as they have all season. They had just one error for the second straight game.
“Now it’s the hitting aspect we need to work on,” Schoening said.
Leadoff hitter Aaron Cunningham was the lone offensive bright spot for Tyrone, breaking out of an 0-for-10 slump to register two hits and steal a base. But after each of his singles, the side was retired in order and Cunningham never made it farther than third base.
Indian Valley 5 Tyrone 0
Indian Valley – Hartman, cf, 4-1-1; Thompson, 2b, 4-0-0; Pearson, 1b, 4-2-2; Long, ss, 3-1-2; Keefer, p, 3-0-1; Eversole, c, 2-1-1; Fultz, 3b, 3-0-1; Saltzer, lf, 2-0-0; Dailey, rf, 2-0-0. TOTALS: 27-5-8.
Tyrone – Cunningham, cf, 3-0-2; Moore, 2b, 3-0-0; Rudy, ss, 3-0-0; Shaffer, 1b-3b, 3-0-0; Anders, c, 2-0-0; Hunter, lf, 2-0-1; Brooks, p-1b, 2-0-0; Loose, dh, 2-0-0; Desch, rf, 0-0-0; Hoover, 3b-p, 2-0-0. TOTALS: 22-0-3.
Indian Valley 000 012 2 – 5-8-0
Tyrone 000 000 0 – 0-3-1
E: Desch
2B: Long, Eversole
RBI: Fultz, Long, Pearson, Keefer
SO: Keefer 2, Hoover 1.
BB: Brooks 3, Hoover 2
WP: Keefer LP: Brooks:
