Fountain Central got off to a hot start, but Crawfordsville had too much firepower as the Athenians finished a back-to-back set of weekend wins with a 17-4 baseball victory over the Mustangs.
The visitors came out swinging the bat, as the first three hitters all reached base on the first pitch they faced. An error, a single and a double had them on the board.
The fourth hitter fouled off a pitch and then singled, driving in two.
Five pitches in, and the Athenians were trailing 3-0.
“They throw strikes,” Mustangs coach Adam Acton said. “Coach (Rhett) Welliever has his pitchers ready, so I told my guys to be ready to hit, and not to waste a pitch and fall behind in the count. I was happy with how we hit the ball. It was the most hits we had in a game this season.”
Owen Acton had a pair of hits, reached base three times and scored twice. Kyle Slinker had two hits and two RBI.
Crawfordsville’s bats answered those three first-inning FC runs with a seven-spot in the bottom of the first, as a dozen hitters went to the plate.
The Athenians would bat around two more innings, as they used 12 hits, took advantage of four Mustangs errors, four walks and four hit batters, to move to 5-2 on the season, while FC falls to 0-4.
“We were locked in at the plate enough to not strike out once,” CHS coach Brett Motz said. “We had good concentration on swings, we hit the ball hard and put it in play. I was pleased with our focus on the back-to-back.’
After a 2-1, 10 inning win Friday over Portage, MI, the Athenians had to be ready quickly for the early game.
“We had the meat of the order hit the ball hard and well,” Motz said. “(Kale) Wemer just barreled the ball today. Everything he hit, he hit hard and well.”
The junior had three hits, including a double, drove in four runs, reached base four times and scored three runs.
Eight of the nine spots in the Athenians batting order scored at least once and reached base at least three times. Wyatt Motz had three hits, while Bryce Dowell had a pair of hits, reached four times and scored three. Jude Coursey drove in three, while courtesy runner Isaac Rogers, hoofing for Kaiden Underwood, scored three times.
Underwood, in addition to reaching base four different ways, also picked up the pitching win after delivering the game-winning hit in the bottom of the tenth Friday.
In his first start of the season, the senior went four innings, scattered seven hits, struck out seven and walked only one.
“Underwood showed his senior maturity,” Motz noted. “When Fountain Central got after him early, he continued to attack hitters and execute our game plan. He didn’t let that first inning bother him, and when we had a couple defensive missteps, he stayed focused. He has walked only one batter in two outings.”
Crawfordsville was guilty of three errors, which led to two FC runs.
The Mustangs had four errors, also costly.
“We gave Crawfordsville extra at-bats with the errors and walks,” Acton said. “You can’t give a good team like them extra swings.”
The Mustangs are back in WRC action Monday with a home game against South Vermillion.
“We’ve got really good guys, and they are hard workers and good teammates,” Acton said. “We are still catching up on practices and the small things because the basketball guys were late to the party, but I really feel we will get there. We have the talent to compete and win.”
The Athenians start Sagamore Conference play next Tuesday with a home game against Danville.
“It’s finding consistency,” Motz said of his squad. “We have the pitching, hitters and defense to be pretty good if we start clicking on all cylinders. We are getting to a real exciting point of the season. The Sagamore is a good test, and we are looking forward to playing. We think we can be competitive, but we have to find and maintain that even keel and composure.”
