North Harrison’s baseball team was off to a rocky start this year. They played respectable in a 6-2 loss to South Harrison and a 10-6 loss to Milan to start the year. They then picked up a forfeit win over Albany when the Warriors pitched Chase Cline for 105 pitches against the Shamrocks for a pitch count violation; freshman and sophomore pitchers can only have 95 pitches. Then, everything that could have gone wrong against Pattonsburg did as Karsyn Ury was knocked out of the game in an epic collision early on at second base and the Shamrocks fell 17-0.
The Shamrocks were threatened with even more setbacks Monday morning as the day opened overcast and rainy; they have had a ton of games washed out this year while most of the other teams in the area have gotten more games in. But all of a sudden, the sun came out, the field dried up, and it was perfect weather to play baseball.
East Harrison came into the game winless, which meant that both teams would come into the game desperate for a win. But the Bobcats were throwing the ball around a lot in warmups, and teams frequently play the way they warm up. Sure enough, after Ethan Henson worked around a leadoff walk to Kobe Hill by striking out the next three batters, the Shamrocks jumped all over them with three straight hits as Karsyn Ury, Dustin Hamilton, and Andrew Craig connected. Ury scored and Hamilton should have been out on a bang bang play from Sloane McLain in right to first baseman Kaedan King to catcher Jayce Davis. But King’s throw was into the fence as Craig took second to make it 2-0.
Ethan Henson used his head and wore one for the team and Cole Kampman walked to load the bases. Walks lead to runs and sure enough, Jerry Gilpatrick, still in one piece somehow after the Pattonsburg game, made the Bobcats pay with a single to left, scoring two and putting Kampman on second.
But Kampman tried to steal third and was a sitting duck, killing the rally, swinging the momentum back in the Bobcats’ favor. Frequently, runners thrown out on the basepaths fire up the defensive team and lead to runs for the other side, but Henson continued to lock down the orange shirts, holding the fort and striking out five in the next two innings.
Kampman atoned for being caught stealing in the first as he hit a hard shot off the bag at third for a base hit to start the Shamrock third. Jerry Gilpatrick walked and Keygun Johnson advanced them with a groundout. Kyler Kimbrough should have struck out for the second out, but the ball got away to the screen and he reached first safely to load the bases. Kendall Kimbrough hit a seeing eye single past short to score two and put Kyler on second. Kyler took third on a wild pitch and scored on Karsyn Ury’s groundout. Singles by Dustin Hamilton and Andrew Craig plated another run and put Craig on first and Hamilton on third. Craig then stole second.
With runners on second and third, Ethan Henson singled home Hamilton. Craig had to scramble to third to make it safely. Henson then made it safely to second, and Craig took off safely for home as Henson took third on the throw home to make it 10-0.
East Harrison started swinging the bats better in the fourth, but North Harrison fielded two tough plays to preserve Henson’s no-hitter. Grayson McFall hit a hard shot down the right field line, but right at first baseman Andrew Craig. He knocked it down and beat McFall to the bag for the first out. Brayden Eakes grounded out to Gilpatrick at second, and then Jayce Davis tried to bunt his way on. He laid down a good one down the third base line. But Henson alertly raced over to pick it up and got Davis out on a close play.
The only tense point of the game was whether Henson could preserve his no-hitter, and the Shamrocks ensured he would not have to come back out again for the fifth. Cole Kampman walked on a 3-2 pitch and Jerry Gilpatrick hit a pop fly single to right center, with Kampman scrambling to get to second safely just ahead of the force try. That finished Bobcat pitcher Kobe Hill, and then Keygun Johnson and Kayson Sims walked to force in a run. Kyler Kimbrough flied out, but Karsyn Ury got plunked to force in a run to finish Garrett Baker.
Kaedan King came into pitch for East Harrison, but Dustin Hamilton greeted him with a hard hit ball to right center for a double to bring in two and make it 14-0, putting Ury on third. Henson had gotten tagged out on a dash to the plate in the third, but this time, Ury took off for home on a wild pitch that bounced off to the side and he dove in ahead of the tag to finish the Bobcats 15-0.
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