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South Range wins round 1 against rival
By Jon moffett
NORTH LIMA
Photo
eld’s Cody Pitzo watches as South Range’s Andy Lacefi eld (8) arrives safely at second as the Tigers’ Ronnie Bovo (11) bobbles the ball during the sixth inning of Tuesday’s game at the new South Range High School in North Lima. The Raiders defeated the Tigers 13-6.
Springfield High baseball coach Bob Beam was visibly upset with his team after a 13-6 loss to South Range in the Inter Tri-County League on Tuesday.
Beam kept the Tigers (3-1) on the field for several minutes after the game to discuss their performance.
“We didn’t hit well, we didn’t pitch well, and we didn’t play defense well tonight,” he said. “I know we’re a young team, but that’s no excuse to not throw strikes or field ground balls.”
As runner-up in Division IV tournament last season, many have high expectations for Springfield. Beam is one of those people.
“We’ve got to get tougher,” he said. “We’ve got to do a better job of controlling the game and not letting it get out of hand.”
It got out of hand for the Tigers in the bottom of the third inning.
The Raiders (4-1) had hot bats and made pitcher Nick Russell pay. South Range had only three hits in the inning, but scored seven runs.
“We’ve had instances before where we’ve had big innings, and tonight was one of those,” said South Range coach Jim Hanek.
The inning started with a triple by Raiders’ pitcher Jack McDonald. But five walks, broken up by a balk, resulted in three runs. Three Tigers pitchers were used in the inning, which also had another triple and a double.
“There was a lot of good count hitting,” Hanek said. “Our guys had a lot of patience at the plate, drew a lot of walks and we had a lot of base runners.”
South Range had 13 hits and were given free passes six times by Tiger pitchers.
With a 12-3 lead in the fourth inning, McDonald did his best to shut down the vaunted Tiger offense.
Before being pulled in the middle of the fifth inning, McDonald had allowed four runs on four hits. He also struck out 10 and walked four.
“He found the strike zone tonight,” Hanek said. “He was ahead of the count early and took advantage. He also showed a good command of his breaking balls.”
But both Beam and Hanek know they cannot dwell on the outcome for long. The teams will play again tonight, this time at Springfield. Beam said there is much more than just bragging rights on the line for the Tigers.
“This is a big game, an absolutely critical game for us,” he said. “Yeah, it’s early in the year, but we cannot fall to 1-2 in the conference, you just can’t. You try to keep pace with your conference, and that’s what gets you there at the end.”
Asked what he said to his team to make sure one hiccup doesn’t turn into a repeat performance, Beam said the easiest thing to do is win.
“A win solves a lot of things,” he said. “We’ve just got to [today], give a better effort, and hopefully win so we can get this thing back on track.”
Hanek reminded his team that today’s game is an entirely different story, and Springfield will not be happy about the loss.
“I told them that [Tuesday] is over and now it’s time to focus on [today],” he said. “They’re going to come in with a chip on their shoulder and with a lot of confidence. That program has a lot of tradition and a great sense of pride. They won’t just lie down.”
But not even today’s looming game was enough to stop the Raiders from enjoying a win, especially against a team they haven’t had much recent success against.
Hanek told his team to cherish the victory and to remember how it felt. He also told them to understand how much it must have bothered Springfield.
“This is a big stumbling block for them,” he told the team in the dugout after shaking hands with the Tigers. “This was a big game against a tough rival.”
But more importantly, “this is not sitting well with them right now,” he continued. “They’re going to have a long bus ride, and they’re not used to this kind of bus ride.”