Rally falls short (04/14/05)

PORTLAND — A seven-run deficit is never easy to come back from. Against one of the best teams in the state, it’s next to impossible.

Still, the Jay County baseball team almost pulled off the feat Wednesday, pulling to within a run of the Class 2A No. 4 Wapahani Raiders before falling 10-7.

“... I’m proud of the kids.” said Patriot coach Lea Selvey, “We battled back and made a game out of it and made it interesting ...”

But they couldn’t quite make it out of the hole they dug in the first two innings.

Wapahani (4-1), the 2004 Class 2A state runner-up, scored seven times in the first two frames, but only two of those runs were earned.

JCHS starter Andy Hughes retired the first two Raider batters, but then gave up a single, two walks and a error to fall behind 2-0.

The predicament got worse in the second as Aaron Richardson led off with a single to right field, Tyler Reinke was hit by a pitch and Jeff Reinke knocked an RBI single to center. Hughes managed to retire Ryan Granger for the first out, but Tyler Reinke scored on the grounder.

Then Jeremy Hazelbaker, who was a perfect 3-for-4, walked and Selvey called for an intentional walk to No. 4 hitter Drayk Duncan to load the bases. The Patriots got just what they wanted from the next batter, Brandon Howell, with a bouncer back to Hughes.

But, Hughes bobbled the ball and then threw it past freshman catcher Josh Ludy, allowing two more runs to score. Kyle Snider added an RBI single to stake the Raiders to the 7-0 lead.

“It’s little things,” said Selvey. “These kids will learn from it. They’ll bounce back. If we just keep our heads up and keep trying to make the plays we’ll be all right.”

Jay County (2-3) nearly came all the way back after senior Eric Somers got them back in the game as he looped a three-run home run around the left field foul pole in the bottom of the second inning. It scored four more times — thanks to a Josh Ludy double, three walks and two errors — in the fourth inning to pull within one, but that was as close as they got.

Wapahani turned to Chris Hoover on the mound and he responded with 32/3 hitless and scoreless innings. He allowed just three base runners as he hit a pair of batters and walked one.

“He did a nice job,” said Wapahani coach Brian Dudley. “We’ve thought he’s had the potential to do that all along. He came in and really kept them off balance.”

Wapahani kept Jay County’s pitchers off balance by stealing eight bases, including four by Hazelbaker and three by Jeff Reinke. Half of those came in the first two innings.

Two of Hazelbaker’s three hits were doubles, and he was walked — once intentionally — on his other two trips to the plate. He also scored four times.

Kyle Snider and Aaron Richardson each added two hits, including a double for Richardson. Kyle Snider drove in a pair of runs, and Duncan scored twice. Jeff Reinke and Ryan Granger each had a run and an RBI.

“Our speed plays a little havoc on people,” said Dudley. “Once you get to where the pitcher is paying attention to that, that’s when you start getting some pitches to hit too. It’s kind of nice to have that speed.”

Josh Atkinson took the loss as one of four relief pitchers to follow Hughes. He gave up one run on three hits in 22/3 innings.

Hughes gave up seven runs — two earned — on three hits and three walks in 11/3 innings.

Ludy paced the Jay County offense with two hits, including the double, and two RBIs. Somers scored and drove in three runs with his homer, and Rhett Retter scored twice.

“It’s not been a big thing that has caused us to lose games,” said Selvey. “It’s just the little things.

“We played pretty good ball for four or five innings. Those other two we have to sure things up a little bit.”[[In-content Ad]]