The Mt. Paran Pony Saints won all three games last week: beating the Shaw Park Volcanos on the road Thursday evening, then two different Smyrna teams back-to-back on Saturday.
Saints pitchers continue to control games…
…Thursday Christian started and struck out five in two innings.
…Will M pitched in all three games, striking out twelve in 5-2/3 total innings.
…Will G finished the Thursday game and struck out three in two innings.
…Saturday Game One starter Colin struck out four in two innings.
…Josiah struck out two in an inning and a third.
…Game Two starter Tanner gutted out four tough innings and struck out seven, to earn the win.
Thursday the Saints scored seven runs in the first and six in the third, then cruised to a 14 – 6 victory. In the first Curtis and John Fulton White both walked. Christian stretched a single to left into a double, scoring Curtis. Russell reached on a bunt, and he and Christian scored on Tanner’s triple over the center-fielder’s head. Jack’s single up the middle drove home Tanner, then Will Murphy beat out an infield hit. Next Josiah drove a pitch over the left-fielder’s head for a two-RBI triple. Josiah scored on a wild pitch before Will G’s and Patrick’s walk.
John Fulton singled to right to get things going in the third, and he scored on Christian’s triple to left. Russell drove in Christian with a single to right, and then stole second base before scoring on Tanner’s double…again hit over the centerfielder’s head. Jack walked and scored on Will M’s line drive triple to the right-centerfield fence. He scored and Will G walked before the Volcanos finally ended the rally.
The Saints loaded the bases with two out in the fourth. Joe walked, Colin reached on an error, then Curtis walked. But the pitcher fielded John Fulton’s grounder and forced Joe at the plate. They added a run in the fifth: Christian doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch, then scored on Tanner’s RBI groundout.
Several Saints made good defensive plays…
…John Fulton caught a long fly ball in rightfield Thursday…Saturday he turned two double-plays!
…while catching Tanner threw out a basestealer at second.
…when Tanner played shortstop he knocked down a hard grounder and fired a bullet to first for the out.
…playing third, Russell threw out at batter at first, did the same playing second, and caught a fly ball in center.
…Preston fielded a grounder at second and threw out the batter at first.
…Curtis made several putouts at first, and stopped several hard grounders.
…shortstop Colin forced a runner at second by tossing to second-baseman John Fulton.
…Patrick had a busy time in leftfield, stopping several hard-hit balls to hold runners from extra-bases.
Saturday the Saints beat Smyrna Navy 5 – 3 in Game One, outdueling the grandson of Pirates’ great Willie Stargell. Four runs came in the second inning: Will M led off with a walk and reached second on John Fulton’s infield hit. Will stole third and scored when the catcher’s throw skipped into the outfield. Jack walked, then JF scored on Tanner’s RBI groundout. Josiah walked, and when his steal of second base drew a throw, Jack was able to score from third. Josiah then took third on a wild pitch, and scored on Joe’s RBI grounder to short. Later in the game Jack scored again: He singled, took second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on Tanner’s grounder to the right side, and scored on a passed ball.
The Saints beat the Smyrna Athletics 7 – 2 in Game Two. JF led off the first and reached first on a bunt. He stole second and took third on Curtis’ single to right, then scored when the throw in missed the cutoff man. Tanner doubled to right-center to score Curtis.
In the second Will M beat out an infield hit, reached second on an error, and stole third. Again he scored when the catcher’s throw was off the mark. Later in the inning Preston had a nice bunt and Kevin a good grounder, but both were thrown out at first.
In the top of the fourth a pesky Smyrna baserunner was trying to distract the pitcher. Tanner stepped off a few times, and at shortstop Will was chasing the runner back to second. Finally Will broke quickly to the base, and Tanner wheeled and threw a strike. The runner slid back headfirst, and the umpire called him out. The runner wasn’t happy, and grudgingly stomped off the field. It was big at the time…the Saints held a slim two-run lead.
Colin led off the bottom of the inning and reached on an error, stole second and third, and scored on Curtis’ RBI single. Again Tanner drove home Curtis, this time with a base hit. Tanner stole second and third, and scored on Russell’s RBI groundout. Will M hit a fly ball over the centerfielder’s head and raced to third. As he rounded the bag the throw got away from the cutoff man, allowing Will just enough time to slide home safely.
The Saints won Saturday's doubleheader without the services of 15-year olds Christian and Will G.
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