Patrick Henry was looking for a signature win to make a statement in River Ridge baseball.
Tuesday evening at Hidden Valley it was mission accomplished, with an exclamation mark,.
Riding the arm of right-handed starter Jimmy Butler, PH outlasted the Titans 4-2 to win their eighth straight game, improving to 9-3 on the season.
“We’re just playing baseball,” Patriot first-year head coach Charlie Kuehn said after a brief post-game talk to his team. “We’ve decided to be aggressive and see what happens.”
That strategy worked to perfection Tuesday as Butler worked with rapid deliveries, throwing strikes in an efficient effort from the hill. He scattered six hits while striking out seven Titan batters and only walking one.
“Jimmy has been great in every game,”Kuehn noted. “We tell him to pitch to contact and let the defense do the work behind him.”
“I have a goal to give up two or less runs per game,” Butler said after the win. “If I can do that, our team has the best shot. We’re a hustle team, not a power team. These guys just don’t quit.”
That hustle staked Butler to a quick 2-run lead in the top of the first.
After a single and hit batsman put runners at first and second, Rob Brailsford slapped a RBI single to put PH up 1-0, leaving runners at the corners. Brailsford stole second, with Thomas Stockstill scampering home on a throwing error.
Hidden Valley had runners at first and third with two outs in the bottom half of the first, but Butler got a strikeout for the third out to put out the Titan threat.
Butler and Hidden Valley starter Luke Marston each retired the opposition 1-2-3 in the next two innings before the Titans cut the deficit to one in their half of the fourth.
Matt Uttermark was hit by a pitch and Hunter Boone followed with a slicing double down the right field line that made it 2-1. When Palmer Peery tacked on a bloop single, Hidden Valley looked ready for a big inning, but Butler coaxed a fly out to left before the Patriot infield came through with a nifty inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.
Nick Elder took over on the mound for Hidden Valley to start the fifth, with Elder and Butler matching 1-2-3 performances to head to the sixth.
Asher Weisman opened the PH sixth with a drive into the right-center field gap, and never took a second look before streaking to third with a triple. Elder looked ready to get out of the jam with two quick outs, but a ground ball infield error allowed Weisman to score, putting PH up 3-1.
Hidden Valley answered in the bottom of the sixth on PH’s only defensive misstep of the day. Uttermark hit a bloop single to the right field chalk line and Peery singled to right to put Titan runners at first and second. Pinch runner Thomas Bolinger advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored when the throw to third sailed into left field. But, Butler again rose to the occasion, getting a strikeout for the third out.
Patrick Henry added a run in the seventh on two walks and an error on a potential double play grounder. Butler retired the Titans in the bottom of the seventh to pick up the complete-game win.
Weisman paced Patrick Henry with two hits and a pair of RBIs, while Boone picked up a pair of hits for the Titans.
Bill Turner
