Braves bounced against Cougars

0

BROWNSTOWN

Allowing a pitcher to get into a rhythm can translate to a tough time at the plate.

The Brownstown Central baseball struggled offensively — managing one hit — and were struck out 13 times, in a 3-0 loss to visiting North Harrison on Monday.

[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]

In the first inning, the Cougars’ Alex Flock opened up scoring with an RBI single.

With one out, following the run, the Braves switched pitchers as junior Tyler Lawson came in for injured senior Mitchell Grider.

Following a walk, Lawson caught a hit on the mound and slung it to second base to end the top of the first on a double play.

Cougars pitcher Gage Arnold was too much for the Braves the entire way, as he only allowed a hit from Zach McCory in the bottom of the fourth.

The Braves were able to load the bases in the bottom of the fifth with two outs, but couldn’t convert the opportunity into any runs.

In the sixth and seventh innings the Cougars added a pair of runs to move to 4-1 on the season.

“We just struggled offensively — striking out 13 times,” Braves coach John Lawson said. “I thought our at-bats weren’t very good. We were a little tentative at the plate. I didn’t think we competed very well in the box.

“We finally started catching up (in the later innings), and putting the bats on a little bit. I just think we waited until we were behind in the count and were a little too tight. A lot of our swings, you couldn’t tell if it was 0-1, 3-1 or 0-2. We were taking the same swings and not putting the ball in play.”

Some silver lining for the Braves came behind the performance of Tyler Lawson on the mound.

Tyler Lawson finished with six strikeouts, two runs (one earned) and eight hits as he managed the defense.

“The pitching went great,” John Lawson said. “Tyler came in and gave us a chance. It was 1-0 until late, he gutted it out and did a heck of a job.”

The Braves (0-2) will host Seymour (6-1) at 5:30 p.m. tonight

“I just want to see mental toughness, thinking ahead and not being tentative,” John Lawson said. “I thought we were just a little bit nonaggressive in the right counts. Their pitcher established a good rhythm. They need to have that mentality where they sit on that first pitch.”

No posts to display