The axiom in baseball is that good pitching can dominate good hitting.
Thursday afternoon at John Edwards Field Carroll County found out what happens when the opposition brings both good pitching and good hitting.
Riding the two-hit, complete game effort by Patrick Henry starter Corey Hayth, PH rolled to the 18-0 win over the Cavaliers, shortened to 4 1/2 innings by the 10-run rule.
It was a grind-it-out process for the PH scoring. Patrick Henry manufactured a single run in the first in a move ’em over and get ’em in routine following a double. The Patriots added four more runs in the second keyed by a two-run triple by Jake Wright that followed a double and two singles off Carroll County starter Sam Sumner.
PH kept the bats hot in the third when Rob Brailsford launched a 2-RBI double off the center field fence that staked the Patriots to a 7-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Hayth was on cruise control on the mound for PH, throwing strikes and not giving any opening to the Cavalier offense.
Any chance of a Carroll County comeback was put to rest in the Patriot fourth when PH plated 11 runs. Ryan Kuehn got things started with a two-run double, and when Sumner ran out of gas on the hill with a series of base-on-balls, PH scored its eleventh run and Cavalier reliever Jonah Taylor took over with one out.
Patrick Henry followed with singles by Wright, Even Deyerle, Hayth, Brailsford and Mike Weaver along with doubles by Thomas Stockstill and Asher Weisman.
The win moved Patrick Henry to 4-1 in the River Ridge District, a stark turnaround from early season woes in both fielding and hitting.
“We got the catch and throw issues resolved,” PH head coach Aaron Haigler noted of the sharp defense PH displayed on Thursday. “It was a matter of practice and repetition. The guys gained confidence and trusted their ability.”
The hitting has also showed significant improvement, with the Patriot bats spraying the ball all over Edwards Field against the outmanned Cavalier hurlers.
“We changed our approach on hitting,” Haigler noted. “We’ve focused on hitting line drives and hitting to the opposite field. With the adjustments, we’re using the entire field to get our hits.”
– Bill Turner
