Let-down in the fourth spells demise

by Kirk Whitaker
Arthur/Sullivan Reporter

There was only one inning that went totally awry for the ALAH Knights last Wednesday vs St. Teresa in a non-conference matchup on the diamond. But one inning is all that is needed.

Atwood junior Ross Ryan held the Bulldogs in check through the first three innings of play.

“Ross did a great job for us today,” Knights head coach Craig Moffett commented. “He threw a lot of strikes for us early, and these were his first innings of the year. He stepped up with runners in scoring position—second and third in the first with two out and in the second with a runner on third and no outs—and he put us in a place where we could have done something.”     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.

Ryan allowed no walks and had one of his three strikeouts to that point, but the Bulldogs would get the best of him early and often in their half of the fourth.

Early being the second pitch of the frame.

The wind was a factor for both teams, and St. Teresa used it to an advantage and effectively played some ‘small ball’ to get to the Knights. After a single on the second pitch of the frame, St. T hit-and-ran for a single that was knocked down at shortstop by Jeremy Plank though no throw was made; after no play on a bunt fielded by Ryan from his can, the Bulldogs were sitting pretty.

With a full count in the ensuing at-bat the Bulldogs got on the board with a single to left, bringing in two. Ryan then settled down and struck out the next two, and forced a popup to first and the normally sure-handed Noah Yantis.

If there had been no wind, it would have been a routine catch and the blood would have been stopped, but the wind took the ball behind Yantis at first into right field and the senior over-played the ball and it tipped off the end of his glove, bringing home two more.

Then it happened again.

The next batter popped to virtually the same exact place in short right field, and the wind did the exact same thing and fooled Yantis again, bringing in the runner from first. The following Bulldog popped up to Ryan in front of the mound and the inning, and really the game, was over.

“For the most part our defense played well,” Moffett said. “In the fourth it was just a little let-down in focus, but I am pleased with how we have improved from game to game.”

It was over because no Knight could hit.

Freshman Shandon Herschberger ground out to second to open the sixth. Tyler Schuring drew one of three walks on the day and stole second, and advanced to third on a fielding error by the Bulldog second baseman in Plank’s at-bat, but Ryan flew out to right, and Plank was caught napping and got picked by the catcher throwing behind at first to end the inning.

“It was good to see guys getting on base at that point,” Moffett stated. “It just shows how much it means to score when you have the chance. We have faced some quality pitching and we are a relatively young and inexperienced lineup, but we will get going eventually.”

Pitching: R. Ryan: 4 IP, 3 K, 2 Earned Runs (3 unearned); N. Yantis: 3 IP, 1 K, 4 BB, 3 HBP, 3 ER