Patriot baseball now 9-2 with wins over Clovers, Tiger Cubs
The Owen Valley varsity baseball team is now 9-2 on the season, picking up Western Indiana Conference wins over Cloverdale and Greencastle last week.
The Patriots welcomed the Clovers to John Heckman Field and delivered a 20-1 victory over the visitors.
Lee Ammerman led the offensive onslaught with three hits, including a double, and four RBI. Carlos Trevino also had three hits for the Patriots, including a double, along with three RBI. David Freeman finished with two hits, including a double and two RBI, Rhett and Manuel had two hits and two RBICoach Trent Heckman cleared the bench for OV, allowing each member of the team to take part in the game. Out of 16 participants, all but three had a hit in the game.
Jeb Ray started things off on the mound for the Patriots. He threw three innings, allowing zero runs on two hits, while walking one and striking out three. Jonathan Wetzel came in from the bullpen, throwing two innings. He allowed just one run (unearned) while walking one and striking out two.
"It’s good to win two conference wins," Coach Heckman said. "We really got the bats going against Cloverdale and Jeb and Jon pitched well."
The next evening, OV traveled to Greencastle to take on the host Tiger Cubs. The Patriots drew first blood, scoring one run in the top of the third. Christian McDonald singled on a hard ground ball to left. He advanced to second on an error and moved to third on a wild pitch. McDonald was brought home when Trevino hit a sacrifice fly. Greencastle answered back quickly, plating four runs of their own in the bottom of the frame.
Down 4-1, the Patriots got to work in the top of the fourth. Rhet Heckman doubled on a fly ball to left and came home when Damon Kay doubled on a line drive to left. One batter later, Rhett Manuel tripled on a line drive to right field, scoring Kay and making the score 3-4. Things looked grim for the Patriots as they headed to the top of the fourth, still down 3-4. A Calvin Dean single and a walk by Bryer LeCocq set the table for the go-ahead score. An unfortunate ground out into a double play occurred, giving the Patriots one on third and two outs, still down by one. Trevino stepped to the plate and with a one-one count, hit a ground ball single to second, with Dean scoring the tying run.
The Tiger Cubs changed pitchers and Conner Rogers didn't miss a beat, hitting a fly ball single to right field, moving Trevino to third. Heckman was issued a walk, loading the bases for the Patriots. Trevino scored the go-ahead run on a pass ball, making the score 5-4. Damon Kay hit an ensuring single on a line drive to left, scoring Rogers and Heckman to make it 7-4.
Owen Valley was able to go three up, three down in the bottom of the seventh to secure the conference win.
OV's offense was led by Damon Kay with three hits, including a double, and three RBI, followed by Christian McDonald with two hits and Carlos Trevino with two hits and two RBI. Rhet Manuel finished with a triple and an RBI, Heckman a double, and Conner Rogers and Calvin Dean each had a hit in the game.
Trevino started things off on the mound for the Patriots. He threw five and one-third innings and allowed four runs (all earned) on nine hits while walking three and striking out 10. McDonald closed things out, throwing one and two-thirds innings. He allowed zero runs and zero hits while walking none and striking out three.
"We got a good come from behind win at Greencastle last night. They’re a very solid team and it was a well-played, good, game," Coach Heckman continued. "Carlos was really tough last night; mentally tough. We hit the ball really hard all night, but didn’t get everything to drop. (In the bottom of the seventh), with a three-run lead, Christian retired the side in order with about 10 really hard fastballs Damon (Kay) had a huge three-hit night at the plate. We hit the ball hard up and down the lineup and all nine guys got on base last night in big situations to help us win."
Owen Valley will be in action again on Monday, May 2 when they travel to White River Valley to take on the host Wolverines (2-6). On Tuesday, May 3, OV will be on the road again, taking on the North Putnam Cougars (7-6) in WIC action. On Thursday, May 5, OV will host Bloomington North (4-7-1) and on Tuesday, May 10, OV will travel east to Ellettsville to take on the host Edgewood Mustangs (5-8).
This article originally appeared on Evening World: Patriot baseball now 9-2 with wins over Clovers, Tiger Cubs
