North Harrison’s baseball team came crashing down to earth last week after a pair of impressive wins over Trenton to start the season. First, they gave up nine runs against Class 3 Cameron in the first inning and never had a chance in their 11-1 loss to the Dragons, their first loss of the year. Logan Craig’s home run was the lone tally for the Shamrocks.
Then, they had plenty of chances against Pattonsburg but could not capitalize on them and fell 3-0 to the suddenly solid Panther squad, only in their second year of playing baseball. Pattonsburg had beaten North Harrison in the jamboree earlier this month, and the Panthers showed that it was no fluke as they did so again in game conditions.
The playing conditions were not fit for man or beast again, as temperatures were around 50 degrees, but the wind was howling in from the east, wreaking havoc on everything and creating a defensive struggle.
The Shamrocks had their chances in the first three innings of the game. In the first, Grant Claycomb walked and Brett Emig was hit by a pitch. But then Logan Craig hit a towering fly ball that Claycomb mistakenly thought was going to be caught and held up at second. But the wind blew it in and it dropped. Instead of a single and bases loaded, Claycomb was forced out at third. Later, Collin Castleberry hit a screamer, but right at pitcher Peyton Jones for the final out.
In the meantime, Castleberry pitched for North Harrison and kept his team in the game for six innings. He pitched strongly through two, only giving up a two out double to Cameron Jones in the first.
In the third, North Harrison had another golden opportunity to score, but Grant Claycomb hit a screamer that was right at Cameron Jones for the first out. Then, Brett Emig walked and Logan Craig singled to left. Brett Emig stole third successfully, but then tried unsuccessfully to score as the ball got away from third, but not far enough for him to advance. He was out in a rundown, and then Logan Craig wandered too far off second and was out in another rundown. Instead of runners at second and third with one out and two solid hitters in Timothy Heintz and Collin Castleberry coming up, Pattonsburg was out of the inning with no damage done.
North Harrison had every right to expect an easy inning since Pattonsburg’s 8 and 9 hitters were coming up to start the third, but Castleberry walked Dillon Turner, who stole second, and Katie Warford reached on an error when catcher Brett Emig slipped and bobbled a squib in front of the plate. Warford stole second and Castleberry could not put away Peyton Jones after getting him down in the count 0-2 as he singled to right to score one run. Castleberry lost Dylan McCrary after another 0-2 count and walked him, loading the bases with nobody out.
Castleberry nearly walked Cameron Jones after Jones’ acting job on a pitch on the inside corner, lunging out of the way, convinced the umpire not to ring him up but to call ball three and make it 3-2. A walk would have forced in a run, but Castleberry recovered to strike out Jones and Cole Dilley and then get Logan Pankau to ground out to end the inning with only one run scoring.
North Harrison had one more chance to tie or take the lead in the fifth as Grant Claycomb singled to left and Brett Emig doubled off the wall with two outs. Without the wind howling in from the east, it might have left the yard and put North Harrison up 2-1. But then Logan Craig was tied up by a change as Peyton Jones started pitching stronger and stronger as the game progressed, striking out the side in the sixth.
Tyler Lundy came on in the seventh and nearly got out of the inning with no damage done, but then Peyton Jones’ double with two outs turned out to be the dagger for Pattonsburg.
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