Crawfordsville’s lineup provided timely hitting and took advantage of Fountain Central errors in a 13-1 five-inning Athenian win on Saturday afternoon.
Carson Eberly walked to lead off the top half of the first for the Mustangs (3-4), who have dropped four-straight after starting the season 3-0, and later scored to give Fountain Central an early 1-0 lead.
The lead didn’t last long.
Crawfordsville’s bats showed up to the ballpark. Tying the game at 1-1 in bottom half of the first, before scoring four, five, and three runs in their final three at-bats respectively.
“After a big win for us last night (Friday), to be able to come back and execute strikes and get our barrels out and bats working a little bit it was really important for us to get locked back in on back-to-back days like that is something new for a lot of these guys and good experience,” Crawfordsville coach Brett Motz said.
The Athenians had eight hits — their best output of the season.
Cale Coursey and Andrew Martin each had two hits, while Austin Motz drove in three runs on a bases-clearing triple and scored four runs. Fountain Central’s eight defensive errors didn’t hurt things.
“We had to put the ball in play hard, and they did make some errors, but at the same time our guys were up there with the mindset coming to attack,” Motz said.
AJ Hall took the ball for the Mustangs and pitched three innings, allowing 10 runs, but ony three were earned.
“We did not make the routine play today and we talked about that,” Fountain Central coach Adam Acton said. “I think they had three earned runs. AJ was around the plate and did what we expect him to do, we just didn’t make the plays behind him.”
Fountain Central managed just two hits on the day — one from Eberly and the other from Hall, who laced a two-bagger. Crawfordsville starting pitcher Caleb Coons picked up the win in three innings pitched, allowing one run on one hit, while walking two and striking out five.
“We’ve just got to be more aggressive,” Acton said. “Usually you only get one pretty good strike an at-bat, and we are letting too many of those go by.”
Crawfordsville welcomes Danville on Tuesday, while South Vermillion pays Fountain Central a visit on Monday.
