Creekside Fitness bats contained in regional opener

By Dan Hiner

sports@vindy.com

NILES

Creekside Fitness didn’t get off to a strong start in the NABF regional tournament on Thursday night. Creekside’s offense was shutdown from the opening pitch in a 4-1 loss to Spartan Blue at Cene Park.

The Spartans took a 3-0 lead after a difficult first inning by Creekside pitcher Eric Sapp. Spartan Blue sent nine batters to the plate in the first. The Spartans combined for four hits, including singles by three of the first four batters.

Right fielder TJ DeShields gave Creekside some momentum in the bottom of the third inning. DeShields led off the third with a walk and later scored on a fielder’s choice by shortstop Bryce Richey to cut the lead to 3-1.

But the Creekside offense was unable to keep the bats going afterwards. Creekside stranded the bases loaded later in the third and never had a chance to cut into the lead the rest of the game.

“I was baffled because we hit the ball all year. I just can’t believe that we only had two hits,” Creekside head coach Bob Boughner said.

Sapp got on track after the first inning. He faced the bare minimum in the second, third and fourth innings. Spartan Blue scored its last run of the game in the sixth after three errors in the inning.

“Once we got into a groove as a team, our defense started to pick up and we stayed pretty solid as a defense,” Sapp said. “In that first inning we start off that way sometimes. We started slow and it hurt us in the long run.

“They hit pretty disciplined. They’re a good hitting team. The errors were made off plays we should make every time. The hits just hit off the glove here and there…plays we should usually have,” Sapp added.

In the end, Creekside combined for four errors. Three came in the sixth inning.

Boughner said the team gave away a few runs in the game. He said team had a week off and he didn’t think his players were prepared from the start.

“We made a couple mistakes that could have cut down on the runs that they got,” Boughner said. “I think we gave them two or three runs there, but he (Sapp) settled down…he pitched a great game after that. It was just that first inning jitters, whatever it is, we weren’t ready to go from inning number one.”

With a Spartan runner on first base, the ball was thrown behind the first baseman on a pickoff attempt by the catcher—allowing the runner to advance to second. Later in the inning, the ball bounced out to Sapp’s glove following a pitch and the ball bounced behind the pitcher’s mound and past Richey. The runner scored from second to extend the lead to 4-1.

Creekside will try to rebound tomorrow in a doubleheader. Creekside will need to win both games. Sapp said the team would have to come out with a different mentality if they want to advance in the tournament.

“I think we need to come together a little more,” Sapp said. “We just add five or six new players—they don’t know us and we don’t know them. I think once we come together and we know where everyone stands, it’s going to be a lot better. Creekside will play the Boys of Summer at 3 p.m. and the Stark County Terriers at 5:30 p.m. at Cene Park.