Dennis Clark
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
If you like a pitching duel, you’d have enjoyed game one. If you like a slugfest, you’d have enjoyed game two.
Wayne Newton Post 346 won the pitching duel, but came up a bit short in the slugfest, splitting 2-1 and 9-6 decisions in an American Legion baseball doubleheader with Newburgh Post 44 at Patriot Field on Sunday.
“First game we did everything right; second game we didn’t do everything right,” Post 346 manager John Hayes said. “That’s baseball. As long as we learn by it … and that’s a good ballclub [we played].”
Indeed it was a competitive opponent, Newburgh, comprised of players from Castle, and the Evansville schools Reitz, Memorial, Bosse and Harrison. Post 346 (5-2) handed Post 44 (4-1) just its first loss of the season in the opener.“
We know the reputation that Terre Haute brings and the legendary coach John Hayes,” Post 44 coach Jim Lynch said. “We know that every time we play them we’ve got our hands full. I’m just glad he lets us play them because we like playing the best teams in the state.”
Scott West, the former West Vigo standout, earned the complete-game victory for Post 346 in the first game. He allowed 10 base runners, but only the one run scored — two were erased by double plays, another caught stealing, leaving six stranded.
Post 346 assumed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth. Daniel Marlow doubled, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt, scoring on a throwing error on the same play.
Newburgh used a leadoff walk and a pair of singles to tie the game at 1-1 in the top of the sixth. But Post 346 made it 2-1 with back-to-back doubles by Bryan Nacke and Marlow in the bottom of the sixth.
Post 346 missed some good scoring chances too. They had a runner picked off and caught stealing in a fruitless fourth, then left the bases loaded in the fifth, stranding eight runners on base.
West (1-0), who will be a freshman at Lincoln Trail College in the fall, scattered six hits, walking three and striking out three.
“This was my first time pitching since last summer,” West said. “I knew it’d be a little tough, but I battled through it. It got better as the game went on. But I’m sure I’ll be sore in the morning. I still had my fastball, struggled with my curveball a little bit. But it came around, started throwing it for strikes.”
West also called on his defensive skills to get the first out in the seventh inning, making a diving catch of a pop fly just across the first-base foul line.
“The shortstop background allows me to be able to make plays like that from the mound … so, it helps,” West grinned.
In the nightcap, Post 346 jumped out to an early 3-1 lead. But starting pitcher Jimmy Maxwell (five walks) and three subsequent relievers all were touched for runs.
Post 346’s undoing was the top of the third inning. Two walks, two errors, a single, a stolen base, a wild pitch, a passed ball and a groundout pushed Newburgh into a 5-3 lead.
Post 346 would get within 5-4 through three innings, but Post 44 pulled away by scoring one in the fifth, two in the sixth and one more in the seventh. Post 346 managed just single tallies in the fifth and sixth.
“We just didn’t get the base hits with the runners in scoring position in the second game,” Hayes said.
Newburgh pounded out 14 hits, half of them by Andrew Cope (4-for-4) and Nick Coudret (3-for-5), but stranded 13 base runners.
Post 44 starter Tyler Schmitt was touched for six runs and 13 hits through six innings, but he persevered to notch the victory. Nick Jordan retired Post 346 1-2-3 in the seventh to earn the save.
“Tyler Schmitt is just a strike-throwing machine,” Lynch noted. “He had multiple complete games in high school {Reitz] this year. He’s a rag arm. I think he went 104 pitches. He’s just very reliable for us.”
Marlow, the third Post 346 pitcher, absorbed a vicious line drive off his lower torso in the sixth inning, the ball hit so hard it ricocheted directly to his first baseman who tagged the runner for the out. He managed to complete the inning, finishing the game at second base.
Wayne Newton played four games in less than 24 hours, a quick turnaround after splitting a doubleheader at Mattoon (Ill.) Post 88 on Saturday night.
Hayes is using a lot of different combinations early in the season, using eight different pitchers over the weekend.
“We’re going to cut it down in the next couple of weeks to figure out who’s going to be playing at tournament time and play those kids a little more,” Hayes said. “For now everybody’s playing.
“They’re not used to [playing so frequently]. We run through this every year and they have to get in the swing of things. It’s a lot of baseball in a short amount of time. They’ll get used to it.”
W.Newton 2, Newburgh 1
Game one
Newburgh ab r h bi W.Newton ab r h bi
Griggs ss 4 0 1 0 Milam 3b 4 0 1 0
Deutsch cf 3 0 0 0 Lannoo 1b 2 0 0 0
Cope 1b 0 1 0 0 Pierce lf 2 0 0 0
Sander rf 3 0 2 0 Rupska dh 3 0 1 0
Powers lf 3 0 1 0 Rosselli cf 3 0 1 0
Barnett dh 3 0 2 1 Nacke rf 3 1 2 0
Brinson 2b 3 0 0 0 Marlow 2b 3 1 2 1
Arteberry c 2 0 0 0 Tofaute c 2 0 0 0
Francis ph 1 0 0 0 Decker ss 1 0 0 0
Smith 3b 3 0 0 0
Totals 25 1 6 1 Totals 23 2 7 1
Newburgh Post 44 000 001 0 — 1
W.Newton Post 346 000 011 x — 2
E — Brinson, Milam, Rosselli. DP — WN 2. LOB — N 6, WN 8. 2B — Nacke, Marlow 2. SH — Tofaute, Decker. SB — Griggs. CS — Barnett, Rosselli. Picked off — Pierce.
IP H R ER BB SO
Newburgh
DeMoss 5 5 1 0 1 1
Jordan (L) 1 2 1 1 1 1
W.Newton
West (W, 1-0) 7 6 1 1 3 3
WP — DeMoss. PB — Arteberry. HBP — by DeMoss (Lannoo).
T — 1:33.
Newburgh 9, W.Newton 6
Game two
Newburgh ab r h bi W.Newton ab r h bi
Griggs ss 4 1 2 0 Girton cf 4 0 2 0
Cope 1b 4 1 4 1 West ss 3 2 1 0
Sander rf 4 0 1 1 Milam 3b 3 1 1 1
Powers lf 2 1 1 0 Rupska rf 4 0 2 0
Arteberry c 2 0 1 2 Pierce lf 2 0 1 2
NCoudret c-lf 5 2 3 1 Marl’w 2b-p2b4 0 0 1
Francis 3b-2b 2 2 1 0 Nacke dh 2 1 1 0
Brinson 2b-3b 3 2 0 2 Decker 2b 1 0 0 0
SCoudret dh 3 0 0 0 Olds 1b 1 0 0 0
Smith cf 2 0 0 1 Wolf 1b-p 4 1 2 1
Barnett cf 2 0 1 1 Sexton c 4 1 3 1
Totals 33 9 14 9 Totals 32 6 13 6
Newburgh 014 012 1 — 9
Wayne Newton 211 011 0 — 6
E — NCoudret, Marlow 2, Sexton. DP — N 1, WN 1. LOB — N 13, WN 9. 2B — Cope, Sander, Powers, Nacke, Wolf, NCoudret. 3B — Girton. SH — Francis. SF — Cope, Brinson, Mialm. SB — Griggs, Cope 2, Powers.
IP H R ER BB SO
Newburgh
Schmitt (W) 6 13 6 5 1 4
Jordan (Sv, 1) 1 0 0 0 0 2
W.Newton
Maxwell (L, 1-1) 2 3 4 3 5 1
Lannoo 1 1 1 0 0 1
Marlow 2 6 3 3 0 1
Wolf 1 4 1 1 0 0
Maxwell pitched to three batters in 3rd.
Marlow pitched to two batters in 6th.
WP — Lannoo. PB — Sexton. HBP — by Schmitt (Pierce 2); by Maxwell (SCoudret); by Wolf (Francis).
T — 2:21.
Next — Wayne Newton Post 346 (5-2) hosts Danville (Ill.) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
Late Saturday night
W.Newton 510 010 6 — 13 16 2
Mattoon 000 022 0 — 4 10 3
Decker (W, 1-0), Lannoo (6), Wolf (7) and Sexton; Reel (L), Sparks (7) and Bieth.
Highlights — For Post 346, Scott West was 4 for 5; Daniel Marlow had 2 singles; Jimmy Maxwell had a single and double; Dalton Sexton had a double.
W.Newton 100 010 0 — 2 5 0
Mattoon 004 002 x — 6 7 0
Olds (L, 1-1), Lannoo (6) and Tofaute; Snowden (W) and Havlik.
Highlights — For Post 346, Connor Pierce had 2 singles; Kodie Girton had a double.
