Scoring runs in five of the seven innings, the Washington Post 218 Freshmen kept their perfect record intact with a 15-2 victory over Pacific Post 320 Wednesday at Pacific Youth Association.
Post 218 (16-0, 5-0) scored two runs in the top of the second inning, two in the third, three in the fourth, one in the fifth and seven in the seventh.
It was the fourth straight game in which Post 218 won by 10 or more runs.
Washington was on base all night against Pacific, collecting 12 hits and 16 walks.
“The bats seem to be getting more consistent. I can think of three hard-hit balls offhand — Austin Finder with a triple, Nick Thiel with a shot off the left field fence and Spencer Juergens with a triple to right center,” said Post 218 Manager Kevin Juergens. “Hopefully we can carry our hitting right through the upcoming weekend.”
Post 320 (4-2, 2-2) managed just two hits and three walks, scoring both of its runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
“We walked way too many people and had no offense. You’re not going to win doing that,” said Pacific Manager Cody Kelley. “We were missing five of our top guys due to injuries, vacations and football camp. The guys we had playing were flat. It seemed like they didn’t want to be there.”
The game was delayed approximately 30 minutes in the top of the fourth inning when Washington’s Nate Hillermann was hit by a pitch in the head. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital.
Juergens reported Thursday morning that Hillermann was released from the hospital and returned home late Wednesday night.
“Nate was taken to St. Claire (Health Center) in Fenton. The CT scan came back clear,” Juergens said. “Talking with his father, Nate started coming around pretty quick once he got to the hospital. He was able to come home late (Wednesday) night. His dad said he was doing well (Thursday morning) and resting comfortably at home. Hopefully we can give him a little time off and he can come back and finish the stretch run with us.”
Both teams were affected by Hillermann’s injury.
“We were doing OK until their kid got hit in the head,” Kelley said. “I don’t think anyone on either side really wanted to play after that happened. I hope he’s feeling better.”
Southpaw Austin Finder got the start on the mound for Post 218 and earned the win.
In four innings of work, Finder allowed no runs on one hit with two walks, one hit batter and 12 strikeouts. He registered four strikeouts in the first inning, three in the second, two in the third and three in the fourth.
With the game scoreless, Pacific did load the bases with one out in the bottom of the first inning. Finder fell behind the next two batters 3-0, but came back to strike out both of them to keep Post 320 off the scoreboard.
“Austin did a great job of bearing down and throwing strikes when he had to have them,” Juergens said. “He was really throwing free and easy. His ball just had so much movement. It was great to see all the strikeouts, but that shot up his pitch count. He threw about 90 pitches through four innings, so we lifted him for Ryan Becszlko, who came in and pitched three innings.”
Becszlko tossed the final three frames. He allowed two runs on one hit with one walk and one strikeout.
“Both of our pitchers took command of the plate and pitched with a lot of confidence,” Juergens said. “Ryan has become the go-to-guy. He comes in and moves his pitches around and keeps the ball down. He did another great job.”
Drew Fonner was Pacific’s starting pitcher. He worked three innings before leaving the game with an elbow injury. He allowed four runs on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
“Drew did OK. He had a couple of walks, but he kept the score close until he got hurt,” Kelley said.
Post 320 used six pitchers in the contest.
Working in relief were Brett Mann (two-thirds of an inning), Ryan Ray (one-third of an inning), Brendan McMillan (two plus innings), Bailey Watson (one-third of an inning) and Randy Chitwood (two-thirds of an inning).
John Himmelberg led Post 218 at the plate with three hits and one RBI.
Spencer Juergens collected two hits (one triple), two RBIs and two walks.
Nick Thiel finished with two hits, one walk and two RBIs.
Becszlko registered one hit, three walks and two RBIs.
Finder had one hit (triple), two walks, one RBI and reached on an error.
Logan Holdmeyer added one hit and two walks.
Justin Baylard had one hit and one walk.
Micah McNeal had one hit and one RBI.
Seth Bollmann finished with one walk and one RBI. Kody Halmich was hit by a pitch and had one RBI. Gus Kleekamp had one RBI.
Drawing one walk were Matt Miller, Todd Feldmann, Evan Ayers and Max Diener. Hillermann was hit by a pitch.
Mann collected an RBI double for Pacific. McMillan also had a hit.
Ryan Vogelsang drew a pair of walks. Noah Brocato walked and reached on an error. Chitwood was hit by a pitch.
“We haven’t played many games so far this season,” Kelley said. “We have some games coming up. Hopefully we’ll get into a groove.”
