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Gold Hawks Soar, Then Level Off |
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Written by Steve DeDoes for Toledo Hawks Baseball
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Monday, 13 June 2011 07:13 |
Suffer First Defeats In Backends of Weekend DH's
After an opening game shutout win raised their overall record to 6-0, the Toledo Hawks "Gold" suffered their first loss of 2011 in the second game of a doubleheader on Saturday, June 11. The Hawks, hosting the Ohio (Youngstown) Glaciers at Sylvania Southview High School, grabbed the first game in their talons by a 4-0 score; in the second contest, the Hawks battled back from a 9-2 deficit to eventually fall by a 9-8 margin.
In the first game, starting pitcher Brett Kuebler (Siena Heights/Toledo) winged six innings of scoreless baseball, allowing five hits and one walk while striking out four batters. Lucas Willitzer (Adrian/Defiance) pitched a scoreless seventh inning, recording two punchouts of his own.
With the Glacier bats effectively frozen, Hawk hitters gave Kuebler all the run support he would need with two runs in the bottom of the first. Drew Kuns (BGSU/Oregon) hit a out-out double to score Blake Schmenk (Owens CC/Perrysburg), who had reached on a walk, with the game's first run; Kuns subsequently scored on a wild pitch.
The next Hawk happening clinched the game. In the bottom of the sixth, Eric Croak (Toledo/Toledo) cranked a blast into the trees in right-center field; his home run also plated Brett Howard (Siena Heights/Toledo) after Howard had walked. Other hitting standouts in this game were Ryan Williams (Tiffin/Maumee) and Eric Yunker (Ohio Northern/Holland), who joined Kunz in the two-hit club; one of Williams' hits was a double.
Game Two saw the Hawks jump out to an early lead when Kunz' first-inning sacrifice fly scored Cory Lehman (Siena Heights/Rossford), who led off the inning with a single. Lehman also led off the bottom of the 3rd with a walk, stole second, and scored on an outfield error off the bat of Schmenk.
However, the Glaciers had began to thaw out their wood against starting pitcher Jimmie Shaw (Lake Erie/Holland); they scored three times in the 3rd, then added two more against Shaw in the 4th. Shaw's overall line read: four hits and four walks yielded, three strikeouts recorded. Tyler Gibson (Bluffton/Sylvania) was roughed up even more in the 5th, when the Glaciers added four more runs. Gibson allowed four hits, walked a batter, and struck out one.
Facing a 9-2 deficit, the Hawk offense decided to take wing. Mattie DeDoes (Oberlin/Ann Arbor, MI) led off the bottom of the fifth with a hard-earned walk; after Kunz also worked a walk with two outs, Howard came through with a three-run blast to left (one of his two hits for the game). DeDoes again started a rally party in the seventh, this time with a base hit to center; Schmenk walked, Kunz delivered DeDoes with an RBI single, Howard punched an RBI double, and Croak added a sacrifice fly. Suddenly, the Hawks were within one run, 9-8, with Howard in scoring position--but Williams was retired on a ground out to shortstop.
Lefty pitcher Travis Mielcarek (Siena Heights/Toledo) had worked a 1-2-3 top of the seventh inning, but his hopes of becoming the winning pitcher ended on the game's final play. Shaw took the loss for the Gold Hawks, who now own a 5-1 record in Tri-State league play.
SUNDAY ACTION: Gold Trades Off With Terriers
Second DH Split In As Many Days
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