By: Joe Blystone
EDGERTON (APRIL 15, 2023) – You could use every term of sarcasm ballplayers use about inept defense.
Balls bounced off gloves as if they clanged off a skillet. Someone could almost hear the voice “get the spring out” as baseballs popped out of gloves. And then there is the latest called noodle, to describe offline throws.
All could be used to chronicle Evergreen’s defense against Edgerton and mix in a stellar first game performance from Bulldog senior Corey Everetts, added up to a 7-5, 10-5 doubleheader sweep to boost the Bulldogs to 8-3 on the season.
While the Vikings committed a whopping seven errors that led to four unearned runs in the first game, Edgerton was guilty of just two.
Colten Robertson was the beneficiary of one of those Bulldog mistakes when he reached on a muffed fly to open the game and scored on Chase Kirk’s two-out liner up the middle to give Evergreen a 1-0 lead.
It was Everetts who put Edgerton up for keeps when after Nate Swank’s base hit, the senior shortstop rapped a two-run homer off Viking starter Nick Kruzel for a 2-1 margin after one.
“He does a lot for us,” Edgerton coach Michael Gilliland said after. “We go as he goes, and he has been really good in the past couple weeks.”
“We kind of expect that from him, he is one of those guys who puts in a lot of extra work. He works very hard after practice and it’s good to see him get rewarded.”
Then came the first bunch of Evergreen miscues in the second. A booted ground ball and a throwing error with one out set the stage for Cory Herman’s two-run, two-out single to make it 4-1.
After Quentin Blue singled to start the fourth, a wild pickoff move put him in scoring position when Everetts struck again, this time drilling a double up the gap to boost the Edgerton advantage to 5-1.
The Vikings got two back in the fifth on RBI singles from Robertson and Cory Kanneman brought them back to 5-3 but a muffed throw at first and another on an inning ending bouncer to short allowed yet another unearned run in to push Edgerton back up 6-3.
Evergreen rallied again in the sixth when Connor Hewson hammered a two-run double to bring Evergreen within 6-5 with no one out.
One more time enter Everetts, this time on the mound. Using a nasty slider as an out pitch, Everetts struck out a pair of Vikings, and got an inning ending bounce out to get out of trouble, then struck out a trio of Vikings in the seventh.
Blue added an insurance run in the sixth when he reached on a throwing error. stole second and third and scored on a passed ball.
Evergreen outhit Edgerton in the first game 9-7 Dylan Bass took the win on the hill for the Bulldogs.
It was more of the same in the second game as while Edgerton made plays, the Vikings made five more errors, walked seven Bulldogs, and ran themselves out of two scoring chances in a 10-5 loss.
The Vikings missed a golden opportunity in the first when after Robertson and Layne Vance walked and stole their way to second and third with no one out, Robertson was called out at the plate trying to score on a short pitch that got away.
Viking starter Troy Manz was victimized by six of those walks that led to five Edgerton runs in the first three innings.
Herman again delivered with a two-out RBI single in the first after a base on balls to put Edgerton ahead 1-0.
RBI singles by John Herdman and Ryder Hudik gave Evergreen a 2-1 lead in the second, then Kanneman’s sac fly in the third made it 3-1.
However, Manz walked the bases loaded to start the third, and when Herman’s base hit to right was bobbled, two more runs scored to put Edgerton ahead 4-3.
Bass’ fly ball doubled that lead, and another Viking miscue in the inning made it 6-3.
Evergreen missed out on another chance in the fourth. Blade Walker rammed a double to left center to start the inning and a ground out put him at third with one down.
However Bulldog catcher Kadyn Picillo picked him off going back to third after a pitch to squelch that threat.
In the bottom of the inning, a muffed pickoff attempt at second after Blue walked and stole second, then a dropped fly ball in left coupled with Bass’ run scoring single pushed the score to 8-3.
Herman’s sacrifice fly and a throwing error on a steal attempt, the Bulldogs stole nine bases in game two, got Edgerton their last two runs.
Again, Evergreen outhit the Bulldogs, this time 10-7 but Edgerton was much better in the field.
“That is something we work on every day,” Gilliland said of his team’s defensive effort. “We work on repping it over and over and knowing where to go with the ball, we work very hard on our baseball IQ, we watch baseball, talk baseball which is a reason why we have been successful so far.”
“We are fortunate that we have guys that want to get better and will stay after practice just to get extra work and extra ground balls and it’s shown how we played.”
Herman had three RBIs to lead the Edgerton offense in the nightcap. Bass added two more.
EVERGREEN 100 022 0 – 5 9 6
EDGERTON 220 111 x – 7 7 2
Records: Evergreen 4-5, Edgerton 7-3
WINNING PITCHER: Bass (5 innings, 7 hits, 3 runs, 2 earned 1 strikeout, 0 walk) Other: Krantz, Everetts
LOSING PITCHER: Kruzel (4 innings, 8 hits, 5 runs, 3 earned, 4 strikeouts, 1 walk) Other: Hewson
LEADING HITTERS: (Evergreen) C. Kanneman – 2 singles, RBI; Vaculik – double, single; Hewson – double, single, 2 RBIs; Vance – double; (Edgerton) Swank – 2 singles, 2 runs; Everetts – home run, double, 3 RBIs; Herman – 2 singles, 2 RBIs
EVERGREEN 021 000 2 – 5 10 5
EDGERTON 105 202 x – 10 7 2
Records: Evergreen 5-5, Edgerton 8-3
WINNING PITCHER: Martin (4 innings, 2 runs, 0 earned, 1 strikeout, 2 walks) Other: Kennerk
LOSING PITCHER: Manz (2.2 innings, 3 hits, 6 runs, 5 earned, 2 strikeouts, 6 walks) Other: Overfield, C. Kanneman, Smith
LEADING HITTERS: (Edgerton) Herman – 2 singles, 3 RBIs; Bass – single, 2 RBIs (Evergreen) Robertson – double, single; B. Kanneman – 2 singles; Kirk – double; Walker – double
Joe can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com