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jags squeeze past Raiders |
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Written by Greg Bird
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Friday, 16 April 2010 |
The McCreary Central pitching, the strongest part of the Raiders’ weapons of late, let them down Monday afternoon in a 3-2 loss to North Laurel.
The McCreary Central pitching, the strongest part of the Raiders’ weapons of late, let them down Monday afternoon in a 3-2 loss to North Laurel.
The Raiders entered the game with a very low 0.034 team earned run average through their first 11 games, but all three of the Jaguar runs counted against McCreary Monday night.
The Raiders got their only runs of the game in the top of the third inning. Randy Maxwell drew a walk to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a Tyler Gregory ground-out. Maxwell would score when Dustin Losey reached safely on an error. Losey advanced to third on a Darrell King single and scored on a passed ball for a 2-0 lead.
North Laurel closed the gap to one, scoring a run in the bottom half of the frame off a double and a single.
The Raiders got out of a big jamb in the bottom of the fifth inning. North Laurel loaded the bases with only one out on two walks and a hit batter. The Jags’ Bobby Caldwell hit a line drive up the middle, but Dustin Losey made a great play on the ball, falling to his knees to catch it before it hit the ground, then sprinting to tag second base to double off the base runner.
David Hayes came on in relief in the bottom of the sixth to relieve Dixon and retired the side, sending the game to the final inning.
After Hayes struck out the lead off batter, North Laurel’s Bobby Brooks beat out a slow grounder for an infield hit. The next two batters walked, loading the bases. Hayes got Tanner Smith to hit a ground ball to short, for a possible game-ending double play. The Raiders got the runner at second, but Smith beat the throw to first by a fraction of a second, keeping the game alive by driving in the tying run.
Caldwell ended the game for the Jags, hitting the game-winning hit to left field, just over the outstretched glove of Dixon who was sprinting to the wall to try and make the play.
McCreary avenged their loss Tuesday night with a 15-2 win over Monticello to improve their record to 8-5, and 1-0 in the District.
The loss followed a big 11-1 win over Adair County last Thursday. Randy Maxwell collected two hits in the Raiders’ 7-run second inning to help propel McCreary to the win. Aaron Watts pitched five innings of 2-hit ball, allowing only 1 unearned run while striking out 7 batters.
The Raiders will host Southwestern tonight for the first match-up against their District rivals and will host Adair County on Friday afternoon. McCreary travels to Clay County Saturday and Wayne County next Tuesday.
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