Long Reach baseball defeats Atholton, 8-1, guided by timely hitting, strong pitching
Leading by one run in the bottom of the second, Long Reach senior catcher Conner Bosley stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded.
The Lightning leadoff hitter ripped the ball down the right-field line for a two-run double scoring JP Tennant and Carlos Jimenez. The Lightning scored five runs in the bottom of the second to break the game open, leading to an 8-1 win.
The double was one of Bosley’s two hits on the afternoon. He was one of three Long Reach players with multiple hits.
“We got the bases loaded, so I was just looking to drive the ball, looking middle away,” Bosley said. “He gave me a middle away pitch, so I just went with it and drove it the other way.”
The victory also marks Anthony Lyon’s first as head coach, now leading the Lightning after serving as an assistant the previous five seasons.
“I’m extremely proud of these guys,” Lyon said. “We’re going to be scrappy this year. To come out after the performance we had last Friday with three hits and come out today with nine hits and bounce back like that I couldn’t be more proud of them. I just told the guys right now I got my first win but that’s not what it’s all about. We’ve got to stack wins here and we’re just going to get back to work tomorrow.”
While the Long Reach bats were thriving, Tennant excelled on the mound. He threw a complete-game five-hitter, striking out seven.
“Tip your cap to JP he had a fantastic game,” Atholton coach Scott Peddicord said. “He wasn’t afraid to challenge us. He threw strikes. He was around the zone consistently and he just straight competed.”
Tennant allowed back-to-back doubles in the top of the second to Charlie DeCelles and Chris Rose. However, from there he was lights out consistently throwing strikes and getting ahead of the Raiders in the count. After surrendering his only run of the game in the second, Tennant struck out a pair in the third, gaining more confidence with each inning.
“Just find my pitches for the right feel and the right zone,” Tennant said. “It just worked out, everything fell into place.”
Leading 5-1 entering the bottom of the fifth, the Lightning bats found their groove once again. Ethan Austraw and Jimenez started the inning with back-to-back singles.
“In high school baseball it’s all about just getting runners on,” Lyon said. “It’s just about putting the ball in play and if you can start an inning with the first batter on every single time, you have a good chance of scoring.”
Freshman second basemen Seth Rosenfeld stepped up to the plate and sent a drive to deep center, his second hit of the game, scoring Austraw and Jimenez.
Rosenfeld scored later in the inning on a passed ball for the Lightning’s eighth and final run.
