(April 23rd, 2015) – PIONEER: Pettisville stepped onto the field of Buckeye Border Conference foe North Central, and gave a consistently powerful offensive performance. The Eagles struggled to keep pace with the frenetic scoring of their guests from Fulton County, but just couldn’t do so.
By the conclusion of five innings, the Blackbirds enjoyed a 14-4 lead, good enough for the game to be called due to the mercy rule.
Right away, Pettisville found success with their bats. They knocked in 4 runs in the top of the first, setting a high precedent for scoring from the very start. A stunned Eagles squad couldn’t answer in the bottom half of the inning, falling behind 4-0 after just one frame of play. Each team tacked on 2 runs to their totals in the second inning, changing the score but not the deficit for North Central.
The Blackbirds erupted in the fifth inning, putting up 5 runs before surrendering the batter’s box to North Central. Again, the Eagle boys were held scoreless in the bottom half of the inning, as they trailed 11-2 heading into the fourth.
Pettisville would add 3 more runs in the fourth, with North Central unable to provide an immediate response. The Eagle defense came through when they were most needed, refusing to allow the Blackbird boys to score in the fifth. Down by 12 runs, the hometown boys of Pioneer had to score 3 runs to extend the contest beyond the fifth inning. They were only able to procure 2 runs, however, ending the game early.
Senior Eli King had a monstrous day at the plate for Pettisville. He hit for 2 singles and a double, driving in an impressive 6 RBIs. Christian Barhite made contact for a 2 RBI double, while Dustin Nofziger hit a 2 RBI single.
Dakota Pitts knocked in an RBI off of a single for North Central. Josh Sawyer also had an RBI single. Senior Colton Pilmore also came away from the batter’s box with a single.
Barhite pitched all 5 innings for Pettisville, allowing just 1 earned run from 3 hits. He had some control issues early on, which contributed to giving up 5 walks. Still, he got things together, striking out 9.
Steven Williams started at the mound for North Central. Of the 6 runs scored by the Blackbirds during his time pitching, only 3 of them were earned. He allowed 5 hits, walking 3 and striking out 1. Jordan Bailey came into the game to provide relief, doing so for 1 inning. In that span, he allowed 3 earned runs off of 2 hits. He earned 1 strikeout, walking 6 batters as well. His brother, Josh Bailey stepped in to pitch the last two innings, not giving up a run or a hit. He struck out 2 batters, walking 2 more.
