Sept. 29th Home Win

Will stayed busy in his game Saturday, catching three innings and playing shortstop two. He only had one ball hit to him, a tough popup into short left-center that he backpedaled to catch. Will doubled, stole third, and scored in the third.

There were two runners on base with two out the next time he batted, and the coach wanted him to put the ball in play as opposed to walking. He swung at a pitch he didn’t like and hit a hard grounder to third. The ball took a Sunday hop right into the third-baseman’s glove, and the third-baseman had all day to throw Will out at first…though Will hustled and made it close.

Here’s the recap I submitted for the Mt. Paran website:

Saturday September 29th the Pony Saints won 8 – 0 over a competitive Acworth Lookouts team, stretching the pitching staff’s scoreless innings streak to ten innings. All 13 Saints reached base, and the 8 runs were scored by 7 different players.

In the first Jack was hit by a pitch. He stole second, then his brother Curtis singled to centerfield. On the next pitch Curtis took off on a steal of second. The shortstop moved toward second to take the throw. Tanner hit a grounder right up the middle, and the shortstop made a diving catch. He then moved his glove straight down six inches to tag the base, robbing Tanner of a sure hit.

The first five batters in the second scored for the Saints…
--Josiah got things going with a single to right field.
--He scored all the way from first on Will’s double down the left-field line.
--Will stole third and scored when the throw was off the mark.
--Russell reached base and stole second.
--Christian’s fly ball dropped in for a double,
--then Colin knocked them both home with a single to right.
--Colin stole second and scored on Preston’s two-strike single up the middle.
That did it for the scoring in the second, though Preston stole second and Joey singled to center before the side was retired.

The next inning Jack was the leadoff batter. The rightfielder wasn’t playing shallow, but Jack drove the ball over his head for a stand-up triple. Tanner walked and took second, but they too were stranded on base. In the fourth Christian drove the first pitch he saw to left center. The ball bounced to the fence, and Christian raced around the bases for an inside-the-park home run. Preston lined a single over the shortstop’s head and Kevin walked.

Patrick reached first to lead off the fifth, and took second when the pitcher’s pickoff throw was wild. He advanced to third on a passed ball. John Fulton reached base on the shortstop’s error, driving in Patrick. JF stole second, took third on a wild pitch, and scored when the catcher’s throw sailed past third. Curtis singled to right for his ninth hit in ten at-bats. Tanner hit a hard grounder just to the left of second base. A different shortstop made a lunging catch, snow-coning the ball at the very tip of his glove. The shortstop’s momentum carried him over to second base to force Curtis, then the throw to first doubled up Tanner. Tanner had twice been robbed of base hits up the middle!

Christian, Josiah, and Tanner each pitched two innings of the shutout, and each struck out three batters. Only four Lookouts reached base in the six innings: two on hits and two on walks. Only one ball was hit out of the infield the entire game. Defensively Christian and Josiah tagged out batters, John Fulton, Will, and Patrick caught popups, Tanner and Curtis made putouts at first, and Colin and JF threw out runners at first.