LINDEN — In what proved to be a bullpen game for both pitching staffs, Danville, Ill beat Byron Cox Post No. 72 15-8 in legional ball on Tuesday night at North Montgomery.
Danville scored three in the first and plated six in the third to go up 9-0. The visitors first two pitchers mowed down the Post 72 hitters through the first three innings, allowing no runs on one hit, walking none, and striking out eight.
“We couldn’t really get anything going that first couple innings,” Post 72 coach Kyle Proctor said. “Their first two guys really were lights out, and then after that we started having better at-bats. Not chasing stuff and making them throw pitches and that worked out better for us,”
Post 72 scored a single run in the fourth, before adding three in the fifth and another four in the sixth.
Danville’s (Indiana) Tony Ramirez led Byron Cox with a pair of hits, while Danville’s Drew Bradley, North Montgomery’s Jacob Braun, and Tri-West’s Matthew Harris each drove in two runs.
Post 72’s pitching struggled as they used six arms. Bradley and Crawfordsville’s Zach Fichter each had scoreless outings in relief.
The biggest key came defensively with five errors, a problem Proctor has seen all season.
“Our biggest thing is we don’t do the little things and we give them too many outs. We make bad plays,” he said. “I know through the first 10 games we had 41 errors. When you have four errors a game, you’re not going to win very many games.”
Post 72 is 8-7 heading into a tournament at Danville this weekend, where Proctor hopes to have the majority of his roster and all of his pitching ready to go. With 10 games left before the state tournament, he still believes Post 72 has a lot of room for growth.
“All season long we’ve had no leadership,” Proctor said. “You can tell there was a year off. Even some of things that they learn when they’re 8-years old that they’re doing now and you’re like ‘what is going on?’” “I think if we get everybody together, and get everybody on the same page then we will be alright.”
