There is just something about day games that doesn’t bode well for the Post 122 Junior Legion baseball team. Warrenton dropped the opening game of the District 9 tournament on Monday at Ronsick …
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There is just something about day games that doesn’t bode well for the Post 122 Junior Legion baseball team.
Warrenton dropped the opening game of the District 9 tournament on Monday at Ronsick Park in Washington. Central took the third meeting between the teams, claiming a 5-2 victory.
The defeat set up a date in the loser’s bracket for Warrenton on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. in Pacific.
Like in its previous day games, Post 122 didn’t possess much energy at the plate and seemed lackadaisical, according to coach Rob Duren.
“I don’t know what it is about day games,” said Duren. “We got big hits, but we didn’t string them together.”
Central jumped on top in the bottom of the first, as Mike Abrolat walked the lead-off batter. After a pair of stolen bases, a wild pitch pushed Central ahead 1-0.
Abrolat led off the second inning but was tagged between bases, limiting Warrenton to just three batters that inning.
Central tacked on another run in the bottom of the inning, leading off with a double. A pair of walks loaded the bases and another wild pitch helped Central build on its lead.
“They scored their first run without even getting a hit,” said Duren, voicing his frustration. “The second run scored on a wild pitch ... We gave them four out of the five runs. You can’t win that way.”
Warrenton finally generated sparks at the plate in the third, but it was the beginning of a bothersome problem for Duren. Nick Shough led off with a double but would end up stranded on base — somewhat of a theme for Monday’s game.
“We left way too many on base,” said Duren. “We have a guy who gets a lead-off double, and he’s still standing at second with three outs. That’s not a good thing.”
Post 122 began the fourth inning in promising fashion as well but came up empty-handed again. Greg Hobusch led off with a double, while Eric Smurl followed with a single. Three straight outs left both runners in scoring position.
With his pitch count getting high, Abrolat gave up his spot on the mound to Jake Shough in the fourth. Shough was able to take care of business during that inning but Central unleashed a hitting parade in the fifth.
“Mike was out of sync pretty much the innings he was in,” said Abrolat. “He battled through it. Jake came out and was throwing good, but his pitch count was getting a little high. He finished strong.”
Three straight hits helped drive in a run and an error pushed through two more scores to give Central a 5-0 advantage.
Warrenton began to rally in the sixth, as Chris Hertel led off with a hit. Smurl then cranked an in-the-park home run, driving in two runs. The comeback was short-lived, as Central quickly closed out the inning.
“We told them we don’t need you swinging for the fences,” said Duren. “We just need you get some hits and string them together, but we couldn’t accomplish that.”
Jake Shough and Nick Shough would both collect hits in the seventh, as Post 122 loaded the bases. Again it did not result in any runs for Warrenton, who dropped to 10-13.
