NEW MARKET – It was a tough home opener for Southmont baseball as they lost to Bethesda Christian 12-1.
The Mounties fall to 0-4 with the loss, while the Patriots move to 2-5.
BC put two runs on the board in the first and never looked back, as they used a 12-hit attack and took advantage of several Mounties errors.
All nine spots in the lineup scored at least one run for the Patriots, who lost to Crawfordsville last Saturday at Logansport in the Athenian Invitational.
“We are making contact, hitting the ball well,” BC coach Tom Stevens said. “We hit the ball well Saturday against Crawfordsville also. I like our offense so far.”
That offense roughed up five South pitchers, all of whom were on strict pitch count limits to keep everyone available for conference games against Frankfort Tuesday and Wednesday,
“We had to take guys out when they got to the 35-pitch limit, and that turned it into a bullpen game,” South coach Bill Woods said. “We kept everyone available for Frankfort, and that gave those guys some valuable pitching experience. We have one senior and two juniors on our roster. We have a lot of development to do.”
All eight freshmen on the Southmont roster did see action, with seven getting to the plate at least once.
Again, experience building.
“At-bats are important,” Woods continued, “but we also have to be able to put the ball in play more and score some runs. I thought we needed to make their pitchers throw a few more strikes, but again, it is about getting better every outing, and playing hard for 21 outs of every game.”
The Mounties managed four hits against four Patriots hurlers. Noah Dininger started and went five innings in picking up his first win of the season. The junior struck out nine in a 60-pitch outing.
Dean McGaughey had a hit in the second for South, Eden Hernandez and Cale Chadd had singles in the third and Michah Kiger had a double in the sixth.
The Mounties run came in the seventh when Landon Grimes was hit by a pitch and then advanced two bases on wild pitches and scored on a third wild pitch.
The Patriots got run production up and down the order, as #1 and #2 hitters Brady Knisley and Brendan Mackie each reached base three times and scored twice. Hitting in the #9 spot, Isaac Mlagan reached four times and scored two runs.
“We’ve got three solid pitchers,” Stevens said of his squad. “We are the fifth smallest school in the state, and seven games in, we haven’t played a 1A school yet. We are trying to punch above our weight.”
Stevens was also very pleased with the no-error game his defense turned in. “I’m excited for the season,” he added, “We are playing good teams like Crawfordsville and Norwell, and if we don’t have a bad defensive inning, we gave Crawfordsville a scare. We want to play these big schools, and we think we can hit with them. We want to be ready for the 1A tournament.”
The Mounties are taking things one game at a time.
“It’s all about getting better every game,” Woods said. It’s about keeping focused on the pitch and play, inning and game at hand. We had a few what-ifs tonight that would have made things better, but we have to make those things happen and learn from every opportunity.”
The Patriots have games coming up against the likes of Attica, WeBo and Fountain Central.
The Mounties have the Hot Dogs at home Tuesday an on the road Wednesday in conference action, with another conference game Saturday against North Montgomery.
