Pirates defeat Cardinals
It was a pitcher’s duel for the first five innings as the Pirates and Cardinals faced off on Tuesday. Cards starter Eamon Savard held the Pirates to three runs over three innings, racking up seven strikeouts. Pirates starter Harper Hearn held the Cards to one run over 3⅓ innings, striking out eight Pirates. Cardinals reliever Richie Combra held the Pirates scoreless in the fourth and fifth, while Pirates reliever Clyde Smith held the Cards scoreless in his 2⅔ innings of relief.
With the score 3-2 Pirates in the sixth, Pirates Hardy Eville and Caleb Dubin hit singles. After an out, the Pirates had five consecutive RBI singles from Parker Blake, Tobey Roberts, Clyde Smith, Harper Hearn, and Nick Rabeni.
When the barrage was over, the score was 10-2 Pirates. Winging mean bats for the Pirates were Harper Hearn (2-2, 2 BB, 2 R, 3 RBI) and Hardy Eville (4-4, 2B, R, RBI). For the Cards, Eamon Savard and Grady McCracken hit RBI singles.
Red Sox show their might against A’s
On Monday, the Red Sox and the A’s went head to head. In the first inning, A’s starter Micah Simmons made quick work of the Sox, sitting down the side on just 13 pitches. Then A’s player Lukas Fernandes struck a blow with an RBI, to make it 1-0 A’s.
The Sox plated two in the top of the second on a leadoff single by Jack deBettencourt (3-5, 2 runs), and a Jacob Sylvia double (1-2, 2 BB, 3 runs) to left center. Both scored on RBIs by Wyatt Nicholson (3-5, 4 RBI) and Kaleb Hatt.
Defensively for the A’s, Jack Lionette turned a sweet double play to end the inning, scooping up a grounder, tagging the runner, and tossing it to second to get the third out. In the process, Lionette was leveled by the runner, but finished the play by a hair.
The Sox were up 2-1 after two. The A’s took a commanding 8-3 lead after three innings. They put up seven runs, keyed by their aggressive running, an RBI double by Silas Stanek-Streed, and a Simmons RBI single.
The Sox struck back in the fourth, catching up to the A’s with five more points, on RBIs from Kaleb Hatt (3-5, 3 RBI), Atlas Zack (2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI), and Jakie Glasgow (3-5, HR, 2B, 5 RBI).
Then Sox reliever Jack deBettencourt pitched a 1-2-3 inning, striking out the side on 15 pitches. In the fifth, A’s Simmons shut down the Sox, and deBettencourt returned, striking out the first two batters to make it 5 Ks in a row en route to another shutout inning.
The Sox plated 14 in the sixth, driven by a 2-run homer by Jakie Glasgow, his first of the season. With the score tilted in their favor 10-8, the Sox were off to the races.
Pirates top A’s
On Saturday, the Pirates knocked off the A’s 6-2, led by Pirates starting pitcher Tobey Roberts and leadoff batter Nate Story.
Roberts shutout the A’s for 4⅓ innings, striking out 11. In the first, Roberts struck out the top of the order, and the Pirates took a 1-0 lead on a Nate Story double and a Hardy Eville RBI single. The A’s threatened in the second, loading the bases on a walk and consecutive singles by Micah Simmons and Myles Wolff. Roberts struck out the next two batters to end the threat.
Story came up big again with the bat for the Pirates, hitting another double and driving in the Pirates’ second run. With the Pirates up 2-0 in the third, the A’s Jack Lionette hit a rocket that Pirate Rocco Imbrogno caught, saving a run.
The fourth was a big one for the Pirates. Roberts struck out three of the four batters he faced. At the dish, Pirates scored four on a Story RBI triple, Roberts RBI single, and a Parker Blake RBI opposite-field triple. At the end of the 4th, it was 6-0 Pirates.
Roberts started the fifth with a final strikeout, then was relieved. The A’s threatened, but the Pirates threw out a runner trying to steal third to end the inning. At the top of the sixth, the never-quit A’s rallied. Lionette smashed a triple and scored. Cole Lamberts also scored off a Myles Wolff double, but the Pirates got a grounder to Roberts at short, who threw to first to end the game.
Pirates top A’s
The Pirates knocked off the undefeated A’s 6-2, led by Pirates starting pitcher Tobey Roberts and leadoff batter Nate Story.
Roberts shutout the A’s for 4-1/3 innings, striking out 11. In the first, he struck out the top of the order, and then the Pirates took a 1-0 lead when Nate Story doubled and scored on a Hardy Eville single.
The A’s threatened in the second, loading the bases on a walk and consecutive singles by Micah Simmons and Myles Wolff.
Roberts struck out the next two batters to end the threat. Story came up big again with the bat for the Pirates, hitting another double and driving in the Pirates second run. The Pirates were up 2-0.
In the third, A’s Jack Lionette hit a rocket that Pirate Rocco Imbrogno made a nice catch on, saving a run. The A’s Mark Clements repeated the move with Pirate Caleb Dubin.
The fourth was big for the Pirates. Roberts struck out 3 of the 4 batters he faced. At the dish, Pirates scored four on a Story RBI triple, Roberts RBI single, and a Parker Blake RBI opposite field triple. At the end of the fourth, the Pirates had a solid lead 6-0.
Roberts started the fifth with a final strikeout, then was relieved. The A’s threatened, but the Pirates threw out a runner trying to steal third to end the inning. At the top of the sixth, the never-quit A’s rallied. Lionette smashed a triple and scored, Cole Lamberts also scored off a Myles Wolff double — but the Pirates got a grounder to Roberts at short who threw to first to end the game.
Red Sox and Cubs nearly tie in a thriller
It was another cold and windy afternoon at Penn field for the Mother’s day weekend showdown between the Cubs and the Red Sox. After a decisive win against the Cardinals in the first game of their doubleheader on Saturday, Coach Jay Napior looked to do the same to the Sox. The Sox were victorious with a 9-7 win.
The Cubbies sent Latham Higgins to the mound to try to snuff out the Red Sox one game winning streak. The Sox countered by bringing out their secret weapon, rookie fireballer Luke Sylvia.
The Cubs got off to a quick start after a Liam Marek walk when Tristan Scott hammered a RBI triple to right center. He was quickly driven home by a sacrifice ground ball RBI from Cam Napior. Luke shut the Cubs down the rest of the inning, getting some solid infield play, from Atlas Zack and his brother, Jacob.
The Red Sox countered back though, evening up the score at the bottom of the first. Following a walk by Luke and a single by Sam Zack, Jacob Sylvia once again had his brother’s back by ripping a clutch, two out, two RBI double to left center. The score was 2-2 after one.
Luke Sylvia got two quick outs before the Cubs pitched a base hit to push one run home. So with the bases loaded and two out, the Cubbies looked poised to rip the game wide open. Enter Jacob Sylvia, who came in to get out of the jam, getting the Cubs to fly out to end the inning.
The bottom of the second saw the Sox put three on the board. Following two quick outs, the Red Sox smacked three straight singles by Luke and the Zack brothers. Jakie Glasgow and Jacob Sylvia, drove them all home with solid clutch hits to make it 5-3 Sox.
The top of the third brought more scoring drama to the table. Helping out his own cause in a big way, Latham Higgins ripped a triple to left field, setting up Ethan DiBiaso for an RBI single. Ethan was driven in by Hayden Higgins.
The counter punching continued at the bottom of the frame with the Sox getting two runs back after Sam (3 for 4 with an RBI) and Atlas Zack (3 for 4 with 2 RBI), both, knocked home Kaleb Hatt and Radio Goulart. The sox were up 7-5 after three.
Sam Zack came in to relieve Jacob and pitched a scoreless fourth and fifth innings, giving up one hit and striking out three.
Meanwhile, in the bottom of the fourth, Jakie Glasgow, again with two outs, got the Red Sox started by launching a triple to right field. Again, Mr. Hatt came through for the sox, lining an RBI double to left center field. In the fifth, the Red Sox added another insurance run when Tate Fairchild-Coppeletti, (two for two, one run scored) scored on another Atlas Zack single. The Sox were up 9 -5 after five innings.
But the Cubs were resilient, and didn’t stop attacking. With two outs, and following a walk by Mr. Napior, Ethan DiBiaso, lined a single to left and was promptly pushed to second after a walk to Connor Graves. Bases loaded, two out for Ashley Brasefield. The certified Sox Killer destroyed a one and one pitch, driving it to left center and scoring two. Fortunately for the Sox, Sam Zack was able to grab a ground ball from the next batter to end the game.
Standings as of Wednesday
Cubs 6-3
A’s 6-3
Red Sox 4-4
Pirates 4-4
Cardinals 1-7