(July 6th, 2015) – MONTPELIER: Despite getting off to an excellent start, it wasn’t long before the Cadets saw their foes from Montpelier catch up with them. Still, as the game carried onward, the boys of West Unity derailed the Locomotives’ hopes of completing the comeback.
By the conclusion of the seventh and final inning, Hilltop had bested Montpelier 12-4.
The Cadet bats caught fire early on, driving in a pair of Hilltop runners in the top of the opening inning of play. Holding their hosts scoreless for the first two frames, the West Unity boys added another run to their total in the top of the third, earning a 3-0 advantage to begin the match-up.
Montpelier answered in the bottom half of the inning, however, racking up 3 runs to bring the game to a tie. Now dead even on the scoreboard, neither side could put up another run in the fourth. Hilltop, however, unleashed their offense in the fifth, tacking on another 3 runs to their score. The Locos responded with another run of their own, but found themselves behind 6-4.
Building off of their newfound momentum, the Cadets brought in another 5 runs in the sixth, and 1 last score in the seventh. The Locomotives would not score again for the remainder of the contest.
Senior-to-be Nic Schieber played a significant role in the Hilltop victory. With a 1 for 2 performance at the plate, not only was he able to hit an RBI single, but he also sent home another teammate with a sacrifice fly. Teammate Ryan Brooker, coming into his junior year, also earned a pair RBIs for the Cadets. Going 1 for 4 from the batter’s box, he secured the runs with a 2 RBI single.
It was Colin Rockey who stood out for the Loco bats. Hitting a bases-clearing triple, the rising junior drove in 2 RBIs on the game, going 1 for 3 at the plate. Dalton Surbey, a Locomotive entering into his senior year, registered a 2 for 4 performance with his bat, hitting for a pair of singles. He also earned an RBI for his efforts.
Schieber picked up the win for the Cadets, pitching for 5 innings of work. In that span, he struck out 8 Montpelier batters, walking just 2 more. He also allowed just 1 earned runs off of 5 hits. Quinn Smith relieved the Hilltop starter, striking out 4 in the final 2 innings.
A solid performance at the mound was not enough for Surbey, as the Loco pitcher took the loss on Montpelier’s behalf. Giving up 2 earned runs from 6 hits in 5 innings, he also earned 6 strike outs while allowing 3 walks. Filling in for the Locomotives in the last 2 innings was Andrew Luke. It was a rough outing for Luke, who allowed 6 earned runs from as many hits, while walking 3 batters.