CHILLICOTHE — The Miami Trace Panthers varsity baseball team is very much in the hunt for the Frontier Athletic Conference title as the season begins to wind down to a precious few games.
The Jackson Ironmen were undefeated going into their at Chillicothe Monday, April 29.
Miami Trace was 5-1 in conference play going into their game against the Washington Blue Lions Monday at the VA Stadium in Chillicothe.
Both teams had good pitching performances, but the Panthers got the better of things in the end, with a 5-2 victory.
The Panthers improved to 11-6 overall, 6-1 in the FAC.
Washington falls to 11-7 on the season, 5-4 in the conference.
Brady Armstrong started and got the win for the Panthers. He pitched five innings with three hits and two runs (none earned). He walked four and struck out eight.
Gaige Stuckey pitched two scoreless innings with no hits, no walks and four strikeouts.
Will Miller was the starting pitcher for the Blue Lions. He pitched five innings with five hits and five runs (one earned) with two walks and 10 strikeouts, taking the loss.
Aden Osborne pitched one inning for Washington. His line was all zeros.
Miami Trace got on the board in the bottom of the first with an inside-the-park home run by Cooper Enochs.
In the top of the second inning, Washington got a runner on first, but he was picked off when catcher Justin Robinson threw to first baseman Gaige Stuckey for the tag.
The second was another scoring inning for Miami Trace.
Jameson Hyer led off with a walk and scored when Konnor May reached on an error.
May went to second on the play.
Austin Brown had a sacrifice bunt to move May to third and he scored on a single by Austin Boedeker.
It was 3-0 Panthers when the Blue Lions came to bat in the top of the third.
With the first batter retired, Gavin Coffman singled to left field.
With the next batter retired, Coffman stole second. He soon stole third and scored on a wild pitch.
In the bottom of the third, Stuckey led off for the Panthers with a single.
Armstrong followed with a single. Stuckey was thrown out at third.
Evan Colegrove then doubled down the left field line, putting runners at second and third.
Robinson reached on an error that allowed both runners to score to make it 5-1, Panthers.
Washington scored what proved to be the final run of the game in the top of the fourth.
Bryce Yeazel led off with an infield hit.
With one away, Sam Lotz hit a double to right field.
With two out and Miller at the plate, Yeazel scored on a wild pitch.
Osborne went to third on a wild pitch and Miller walked, but the runners were stranded.
In the fourth for the Panthers, Austin Brown led off with a walk and stole second, but Miller struck out three.
In the top of the fifth, with two away, John Wall was hit by a pitch and stole second. However, the next batter flew out to end the inning.
Miami Trace went out in order in the bottom of the fifth.
In the top of the sixth, Lotz singled and Jakob Hoosier was sent in to pinch-run.
Osborne walked and that is when the Panthers took Armstrong out of the game and brought in Stuckey to pitch.
He struck out the next three batters, but not before a wild pitch put runners at second and third.
The Panthers went out in order again in the sixth, but the Blue Lions were retired in order in the top of the seventh, ending the game.
“Coach Yeazel has them playing really well,” Miami Trace head coach Rob Smith said. “They have some pesky hitters. They have good baseball players.
“That’s a quality win because they’re a good baseball team,” Smith said. “Anytime you can beat someone like Will Miller, he’s one of the best pitchers in the league, so, that’s a big win for us.”
“We just weren’t clean enough on defense to get the win,” Washington head coach Brian Yeazel said. “They put pressure on us and we just didn’t make the plays when we had chances.
“Will pitched good,” Yeazel said. “We left a lot of guys on base. That’s what it comes down to in tight games.
“Armstrong was great,” Yeazel said. “I had the opportunity to coach Brady when he was younger. He pounds the zone and makes you beat him and we couldn’t do it today.”
The Blue Lions will host the Panthers Tuesday at 5 p.m.
Jackson defeated Chillicothe Monday, 5-0 and Hillsboro beat McClain, 8-3.
Jackson is now 7-0 in the FAC, followed by Miami Trace at 6-1.
Washington is 5-4 in the conference, followed by Chillicothe, 4-5, McClain, 2-7 and Hillsboro, 1-8.
Offensively for Washington: John Wall, 0-3, hbp, 1 sb; Bryce Yeazel, 0-3, 1 bb, 1 run; Evan Lynch, 0-3; Sam Lotz, 2-3, 1 2b; Aden Osborne, 0-1, 2 bb, 1 rbi; Will Miller, 0-2, 1 bb; Cooper Robertson 0-3; Gavin Coffman, 1-3, 1 run, 2 sb; Bryson Heath, 0-3.
Offensively for Miami Trace: Cooper Enochs, 1-3, 1 run, 1 rbi, 1 home run; Gaige Stuckey, 1-3; Brady Armstrong, 1-3, 1 run; Evan Colegrove, 1-3. 1 2b, 1 run; Jameson Hyer, 0-2, 1 bb, 1 run; Justin Robinson, 0-3; Konnor May, 0-3, 1 run; Austin Brown, 0-1, 1 bb, 1 sb; Austin Boedeker, 1-2, 1 rbi.
RHE
W 001 100 0 — 2 3 2
MT 122 000 x — 5 5 1
