Baseball Owls pound Dragons 10-0

The Seymour baseball team opened its 2008 campaign on the right foot Tuesday evening as it defeated Silver Creek 10-0.

On this April Fool's Day, the only ones who were being fooled were the Dragons hitters as Owl pitcher Trevor Thompson began the game slow but came on strong in the later innings to pick up the win. He pitched five innings and gave up no runs on one hit, walked three, and struck out four.

"We did a good job today," Owls coach Bob Bowman said. "We got some good pitching from Thompson and Jordan Lorenzo, who is a left handed pitcher and played his first varsity game. Thompson pitched well for the five innings he pitched."

Both teams went through the first two innings scoreless, but in the bottom of the third inning, A.J. Beach got the Owls going with a single. He moved to second on a walk to Jesse Wilson, and then advanced to third on a Thompson walk. Kraig Shutters got the Owls on the board with a sacrifice fly to center scoring Beach for the 1-0 lead.

The Owls plated two more runs in the fourth inning to lead 3-0. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Cory Thomas got the Owls going with a single to left. Noah Wahl added a one-out single scoring Thomas. Matt Lorenzo drilled a two-bagger to left and Reagan Eakins walked to load the bases with two outs.

Wilson received a base on balls scoring Wahl. Thompson then hit a hard grounder to short who threw the ball behind the first baseman which allowed Stu Silver and Eakins to score. The Owls scored four runs in the fifth inning and led 7-0.

"We had nine hits and for the first game that is not bad," Bowman said. "We struggled a little early in the game, but once we settled down we did a good job. We played some good defense too and made some good plays in the infield. We also made a good throw to the plate to stop a run from scoring."

The Dragons made a little bit of noise in the top of the sixth inning when Jordan Lorenzo hit the first batter he saw. Lorenzo then threw a wild pitch as the runner advanced to second. The batter then looped a single to right, but the runner on second tried to score and was thrown out.

Lorenzo settled down and got the next three outs, including two strikeouts to get out of the inning with no harm done.

The Owls finished the game  with three runs in the sixth inning.

Beach and Wahl each had two hits for the Owls. Chad Moore and M. Lorenzo had the only extra base hits with doubles in the fourth and fifth innings respectively. Beach and Wahl also scored two runs apiece and added a run batted in.

"We were pleased with the first game," Bowman said. "I think nerves played a little part early but we settled down. The kids played well and we got everybody into the ball game. It was a good day for us."

Box Score

At Seymour
Silver Ck. 000 000 - 0 2 3
Seymour 001 243 - 10 9 0
Hits: 2- Beach, Wahl; 1- Moore, Thomas, M. Lorenzo, Phelps, Eakins; runs: 2- Beach, Wahl, 1- Moore, Thomas, Eakins, Silver, Toppe, Prange; 2B: Moore, Lorenzo; RBI's: Shutters, Beach, Thompson, Wahl, Wilson, Eakins; LOB: SC 4, SHS 9.
Pitching IP R H W K
Thompson (W) 5 0 1 3 4
J. Lorenzo 1 0 1 0 2

Tigers lose opener

The Crothersville softball team didn't fare too well in their home opener on Tuesday night against Austin as the Eagles won 21-2.

"We were missing a couple of key players for use today as they went home sick," Tigers Coach David Baker said. "Our infield played well, but Austin found our holes in the outfield. Austin is a good team."

The Tigers scored one run in the second inning and one run in the fourth inning.

Tesia Baker started for the Tigers and pitched five solid innings and gave up seven runs on three hits, struck out six, and walked three. Erin Schmelzle gave up the other runs. "In Schmelzle's defense she hasn't pitched in almost two years," coach Baker said.

"As for Tesia she was just wore out."

Leigha Sawyer had two hits for the Tigers.

Tigers box

At Crothersville
Austin 150 10(14) 0 - 21 6 6
CHS 010 100 0 - 2 5 2
Hits: 2- Sawyer, 1- Luedeman, Schmelzle, Wayt; runs: Howard, Schmelzle; SB: Howard, Schmelzle; LOB: CHS 4, AHS 8.
Pitching IP  R   H   W  K
Baker 5   7   3   3   6
Schmelzle  2   14  3   10  1