ADAMS TOWNSHIP — In a game that was not determined until the final at-bat, Clinton-Massie withstood a seventh inning Wilmington comeback to claim a 5-3 victory Monday at Paul Schwamberger Field.
Trailing 5-0 heading into their final at-bat Wilmington scored three times and left the bases loaded. Falcon reliever Miles Theetge preserved the win with a called third strike on Hurricane batter Alex Massie to end the game.
With the win, Massie improves to 4-2 on the season while Wilmington falls to 1-3 on the season.
Falcon starting pitcher Evan Davidson limited the Hurricane to just two hits, before he was lifted in the top of the seventh after 120 pitches.
“Evan is a real competitor and he mixed his pitches very well,” said Falcons head coach Tyler Hayslip. “This is a great rivalry and I’m glad we were able to capitalize on some of their control issues to start the game. Getting those two runs early was huge, and then we held them off in the final inning.”
Massie sent eight batters to the plate in the first inning and scored twice, with both runs being unearned, after a dropped fly ball to right field, sandwiched around five walks.
It remained a 2-0 Falcon lead before Massie plated three more runs in the last of the sixth inning, aided by a throwing error on WHS plus two more walks giving CM a comfortable 5-0 advantage heading into the top of the seventh.
Consecutive walks by Bryson Platt and Logan Phillips forced coach Hayslip to call in Theetge to replace Davidson on the mound.
Brady Tolliver brought home the first Hurricane run on a single, and Chase Fickert, moved into the lead-off spot for this game, brought home the second WHS run. Things tightened up when Jake Stephens drew a bases-loaded walk, making it a 5-3 game.
That set the stage for the a showdown at-bat between Theetge and Massie with Theetge getting a called third strike to end the game.
Both teams will play again on Wednesday, as the Falcons travel to New Richmond and Wilmington will be at home facing Western Brown.
SUMMARY
April 1, 2024
@Paul Schwamberger Field
Falcons 5, Hurricane 3
W^0^0^0^0^0^0^3^^3-4-1
CM^2^0^0^0^0^3^x^^5-3-1
(3) WILMINGTON (ab-r-h-rbi) Fickert 4-0-0-1 J. Tolliver 3-0-0-0 Stephens 3-0-2-1 Massie 3-0-0-0 Platt 2-1-0-0 Phillips 2-1-1-0 B. Tolliver 3-1-1-1 Anderson 1-0-0-0 Oberlin 1-0-0-0 Leforge 2-0-0-0 Walls 0-0-0-0 TOTALS 24-3-4-3
(5) CLINTON-MASSIE (ab-r-h-rbi) Denehy 3-0-1-0 Theetge 3-1-1-2 Smith 3-1-0-0 Black 3-1-1-0 Frisch 2-0-0-0 Doyle 2-0-0-0 Adams 2-0-0-1 Fite 2-1-0-0 Elkins 1-1-0-0 TOTALS 21-5-3-3
2B: W-Stephens, Phillips
SB: W-Massie, Platt; CM-Elkins, Black, Denehy, Smith
PITCHING^ip^h^r^er^bb^so
Wilmington
Massie (L)^5.2^3^5^3^7^8
Walls^0.1^0^0^0^1^1
Clinton-Massie
Davidson (W)^6^3^3^1^4^7
Theetge (S)^1^0^0^0^3^1
