KAISER - In a game shifted due to field conditions in Macks Creek, the Pirates took to the road to play a 'home' game against the Osage Indians on Thursday night. When it was done, the Indians came away with a 9-1 victory.
In the top of the first the Indians saw Tyler Klee double to the wall in centerfield with two outs but were unable to advance him further. Macks Creek put their lead off man on in the bottom of the inning when Grant English walked. He moved to second on a slow roller to short and then to third on a wild pitch. After Tanner Smith walked with two outs to put runners at the corners. With Smith breaking for second on a steal attempt, the throw was cut-off by the second baseman when Grant broke for home. The throw just beat him to the plate for out number three.
In the top of the second Osage plated five runs for a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Dalton Stoecklein singled with one out and then moved to second when Ryan King's fly ball to right was dropped. A single off the bat of Trey Johnson brought in Stoecklein and moved King to third. A wild pitch would allow King to score and move Johnson to third. Jackson Funderburk hit a ball to short that was mishandled and allowed him to reach. Johnson would score on the play. Konner Vaughn reached on an infield single. Dominick Vernetti ground out to third to bring home Funderburk before Tyler Klee walked. Following a pitching change Connor Arrowood singled to bring in Vaughn and increase the Indian advantage to 5-0. A strikeout ended the inning.
The Pirates and Indians exchanged zeroes on the scoreboard until the top of the fourth. Jackson Funderburk and Konner Vaughn each singled. With one out Tyler Klee was hit-by-a-pitch to load the bases. After a pop out to the pitcher for out number two Dalton Stoecklein was also hit-by-a-pitch to bring in Funderburk and create a 6-0 lead.
Osage scored two more runs in the fifth. With one out Tyler Shull walked and was replaced by courtesy runner Dalton Wall. After a stolen base Funderburk reached base again on a hit-by-pitch. Dominick Vernetti laced a two out double down the line in right with two outs to score both Wall and Funderburk, before he was thrown out at third trying to stretch the hit into a triple.
The Pirates plated their lone run in the bottom of the sixth. Kyler Gabriel walked and stole second. The throw to get him was off and went into center and allowed him to reach third. A strikeout of the hitter saw the ball go into the dirt and a throw was made to first. Gabriel raced home and scored just ahead of the tag. Trever Smith singled to break up the no-hitter and was replaced by courtesy runner Jose Cortez. After a pitching change Tanner Smith walked, but a strikeout would end the inning.
Osage plated one more run in the top of the seventh. Ryan King singled, stole second, moved to third on a groundout to short, and then scored on a Tyler Shull groundout to short. The bottom of the seventh saw the Pirates load the bases. Hunter Harris reached on a throwing error by the shortstop and Dakota Willis and Olivier Sanchez each walked to load the bases. A botched squeeze attempt erased Harris at home and a strikeout of the batter went for out number two. A groundout would end the game.
"We did a better job as the game went, but we are still giving up that one big inning each night," commented Macks Creek Coach Jason Trusty, "if we can find out a way to stop that and then keep hitting until we find holes we will be able to stay within reach in games."
Grant English (2-4) started and worked the first inning-and-two-thirds for the Pirates. He allowed five unearned runs on four hits while striking out three and walking one. Tanner Smith relieved and worked three-and-a-third innings, allowing three runs on four hits while striking out two, walking one, and hitting three batters. Dakota Willis worked the final two frames, allowing one run on two hits and struck out one hitter.
Tyler Shull picked up the win in relief for the Indians. He relieved starter Ryan King in the fourth. King had worked the first three innings, striking out two and walking four. Shull worked two-and-two-thirds innings, allowing one unearned run on one hit while striking out three, walking one, and hitting one batter. Dominick Vernetti relieved in the sixth and worked the final inning-and-a-third. He struck out two and walked three.
Offensively for the Pirates Trever Smith collected the only hit, a single in the sixth inning. Grant English, Austin Brown, Dakota Willis, and Kyler Gabriel each walked once with Gabriel scoring the lone Macks Creek run. Tanner Smith reached base three times, twice on walks and once on a hit-by-pitch. Hunter Harris reached base on an error.
The Indians banged out 10 hits on the night. Konner Vaughn and Jackson Funderburk each collected two hits. Vaughn scored once and reached on an error while Funderburk scored three runs, reached on error and also on a hit-by-pitch. Dominick Vernetti doubled in two runs and also collected an RBI on a groundout, Tyler Klee doubled, walked, and was hit-by-a-pitch, and Connor Arrowood had an RBI-single. Dalton Stoecklein singled, scored, was beaned, and had an RBI, and Ryan King singled, reached on an error, and scored two runs. Trey Johnson had an RBI-single, and Tyler Shull walked and had an RBI. Derek Bradley and Dalton wall each scored runs as courtesy runners.
The Pirates fall to 3-8 while the Indians move to 6-5. Macks Creek is back in action today (Friday) when they travel to Climax Springs for a 5:00 game with the Cougars before traveling to Wheatland for make-up PCL game with the Mules at 2:00 p.m.
The Pirates JV fell 9-1 in the nightcap.
Kyler Gabriel (0-1) started and took the loss. He worked the first inning and allowed four runs, one earned, on two hits while walking two. Keith Edelman worked the second and was touched for five runs on two hits while walking five. Isaiah Schmidt worked the final inning and allowed a single hit.
Jose Cortez and Kyler Gabriel each walked. Keith Edelman and John Perez reached on hit-by-pitches, with Edelman scoring the lone run.
The Pirates JV now sits at 2-6.
VARSITY BOX SCORE
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
SotO 0 5 0 1 2 0 1 9 10 2
MC 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 3