Paints claim weekend sweep with wins over West Virginia Miners and Terre Haute REX
CHILLICOTHE — There's nothing better than the weekend, and the Chillicothe Paints know that fact all too well.
After dropping a game at home to the Champion City Kings on Thursday, the Paints regrouped and collected three wins over the weekend. They managed to sweep the West Virginia Miners in a home-and-home series, and ended Sunday with a win over the Terre Haute REX Baseball at VA Memorial Stadium.
The Paints began the weekend by letting off steam from their previous defeat. There wasn't any trouble in their day trip to Beckley, West Virginia, as they defeated the Miners 10-5 on Friday and held the lead for the entire game.
Scoring was never an issue. The Paints scored seven runs in the first inning alone, and five different players brought in runs during their first at-bats of the game. Jake Reifsnyder, who went 1-for-4 on Friday, racked up three RBIs after hitting his first triple of the season.
The Miners never recovered. The Paints utilized four pitchers throughout the game, each of which recorded at least three strikeouts. Anthony Steele, who earned the win on the mound, was the only Paints pitcher who allowed more than one run.
Extra-base hits came without struggle. Cameron Bowen hit the Paints' only home run of the night after blasting a solo shot in the top of the fifth. Both of Nate Dorinsky's hits on Friday were doubles. Dorinsky now holds the second-most doubles on the Paints' roster with 10.
SATURDAY
The Paints hit a minor speed bump after hosting the Miners at home. Despite coming out with a 5-1 victory, the Paints were shutout for the first five innings. In fact, neither team brought in a run until West Virginia broke the stalemate with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning.
That was the only run the Miners scored all night.
Paints starter Gunnar Boehm stayed on the mound until the end of the seventh inning and kept the Miners quiet. Boehm struck out 10 batters and walked just three. Relievers Nick Lallathin and Nick Falter closed the game out with two strikeouts each and no hits allowed.
The Paints made up for lost time on offense. Brett Carson resuscitated the offense with an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth, and the rest of the lineup followed suit. Dorinsky brought in another two runs with an RBI single of his own in the eighth inning, and two more runs came soon after.
SUNDAY
A weekend of games in quick succession was quickly taking its toll. After throttling the Miners both on the road and at home, the Paints' offense had slowed to a crawl compared on Sunday against Terre Haute.
But in spite of the fatigue, the Paints squeezed out a 2-1 win over the REX on Sunday evening.
It was a quiet game for the first two innings. Starter Sebastian Escobar worked through Terre Haute's lineup with ease. The right-hander struck out six in his six innings on the mound. He also allowed Terre Haute's only run of the game after giving up a lead-off home run in the sixth inning.
Carson responded with a lead-off home run of his own in the eighth inning, and his response gave the Paints the lead they needed. They'd been slow on offense all night. They had scored their only other run of the night after Steele scored on an error in the third.
Despite their hit production slowing down throughout the weekend, the Paints ended the weekend with three more wins under their belt.
The regular season is drawing to a close, and the Paints are preparing for the playoffs. Plus, they have another chance to keep their new winning streak alive. They will face Terre Haute on the road at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Bob Warn Field.
This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Chillicothe Paints baseball weekend sweep wins West Virginia
