BROWNSTOWN
The Brownstown Central baseball team used a big third inning to route the Orleans Bulldogs 11-0 in five innings Tuesday evening.
The Braves scored nine runs in the inning and used a total of 14 at bats to keep the game out of reach for the Bulldogs.
The inning began when starting pitcher Sy Zickler led off with a walk and then advanced to second on an error when Orleans catcher tried to pick him off.
Nick Marling then drew a walk to put two on with no one out.
Ty Maxie then belted an RBI double to left, scoring Zickler and moving Marling to third to make it 3-0.
Seth Borden then batted in Marling and allowed Maxie to advance to third. Cody Williams batted in Maxie in on the next at bat on a hit through short to bring the score 5-0.
Borden then scored on an error to make it 6-0.
Carson Lambring then doubled to plate Williams.
Zickler, who started the inning, went to work for himself by belting a two-RBI double to the right field gap, scoring Lambring and Stuckwisch to make it 10-0.
Maxie then batted in Zickler to get the Braves to secure an 11-0 margin.
“Those kinds of innings are always nice,” Braves coach John Lawson said. “I just asked these guys why we don’t do things like this in the first inning. We were able to capitalize on a few mistakes and walks and we were able to put the ball in play to keep pressure on their defense.”
Zickler then pitched out of a jam in the top of the fourth inning.
The Bulldogs loaded the bases after recording a ground out from Maxie to Marling to record the first out.
Zickler gave up two hits to the Bulldogs when he let the third baseman get a hit on a single and a double to the centerfielder. He also hit the pitcher to load the bases. That’s when he struck out the left fielder and got the right fielder to fly out to Lambring in center field.
“He got ahead of the hitters in the counts and threw well,” Lawson said of Zickler.
Lawson said he was happy to see Zickler settle in after throwing 18 pitches in the first inning. “
The Braves also tallied a run in both the first and second inning of play. In the first inning, Lambring scored when Zickler batted him in on single.
Borden scored in the second inning after reaching on an infield single. He then stole second and advanced to third on a groundout from Hogan. Borden scored on Lambring’s double to centerfield.
The Braves also flashed some good defense as Maxie was able to snag a ground ball and making a turnaround leaping throw to first to throw out the Bulldogs’ first baseman.
Lawson said when the offense gets going and provides a cushion for the pitching and defense, he tries to make sure he gets bench players involved and keep the team performing at a high level.
“In games like this where you have that big inning, you’re just trying to make everyone better and get them to continue good habits,” Lawson said. “We did well and it feels good to win.