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Darkness suspends Poland-Harding round one
By Greg Gulas
POLAND
Darkness was the winner of Monday’s Warren Harding-Poland baseball game.
After battling to a 10-10 deadlock, the game was suspended after six innings due to darkness.
The two teams will resume action today at Warren Harding, with the suspended game being finished before their regularly scheduled All-American Conference Red Tier rematch.
“Our pitchers didn’t throw enough strikes today and while we hit the ball well, they also hit the ball really well,” Bulldogs coach Rich Murray said. “There were entirely too many walks on both sides, but our pitching has to get better as we move forward.”
The Bulldogs were undefeated in the three games that they played on their recent spring trip.
“We got in three games and two scrimmages and thought that we were ready to go,” Murray said. “Obviously, we weren’t ready.”
Poland (3-0) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on Dan Klase’s two-run double and RBI single by Cole Kosco.
Klase had three hits including two doubles, scored three times and added two RBIs.
Murray noted that it was good to see Klase stroke the ball because he struggled at the plate while in Florida.
“He snapped out of it today and we just knew that he would,” Murray said. “We just need to get the rest of the guys hitting as well.”
Klase said the spring trip gave him some much needed time to work on his swing.
“We have to play every game like it’s a tough game,” Klase said. “We all came out here thinking that we were going to win, which isn’t a good mentality to have.
“We went 3-0 in Florida, but that means nothing right now,” Klase said. “When we got back from Florida, I made sure that I worked on the little things in the cage.”
A solo home run by Grant Williams pulled the Raiders (0-0-1) to within 3-1 in the second inning.
They added three more runs on just one base hit in the third frame for a brief 4-3 advantage.
Williams added his second RBI on a sacrifice fly, noting that Poland is a really tough opponent.
“They’re a good team, actually a great team so we just continued to battle.” Williams said. “I turned on an inside fastball when I hit my home run and it just went.”
Raiders coach Andrew Burnett, whose team tied Lakeside, 3-3 in 10 innings last week, called Williams a real diamond in the rough.
“Defensively, we played a good game today and haven’t committed an error in our two games this season,” he said. “Grant is an amazing player as he hit .508 last year as a junior and was all-conference at third base.
“He’s gotten better this year and is a true leader. He’s everything that you want in a senior leader.”
Poland took a 5-4 lead with two runs in the third, the big blow a run-scoring double off the bat of Braeden O’Shaughnessy.
The Bulldogs stretched the margin to 6-4 in the fourth on Tony Chiaro’s sacrifice fly, only to have the Raiders knot the game again at 6-all with two runs on the fifth inning.
A bases-loaded walk to Don Drummond and sacrifice fly by Vince Garayua helped Poland reclaim an 8-6 lead.
In the sixth frame, a two-run double by Nicholas Fitzgerald followed by a two-run single off the bat of Antonio Walker helped the Raiders regain a 10-8 lead.
Poland tied the score after Klase added his third run after he raced home on a wild pitch and Kosco crossed the plate on William Aey’s ground out.