Statement Wins
There is one thing Karns City would like to forget — the fourth inning.
Karns City gave up six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning Friday night during its 9-3 loss to Freeport in the first round of the Butler County Area Baseball League tournament at Freeport Community Park.
“One inning every game gets us,” Karns City coach Lane Larimore said. “It's not like we always give it to them.”
Everything was earned between these two teams.
“Nobody gave anything away,” Freeport coach Joe Hotalski said. “All those hits, they were earned and it was a good defensive game today.”
Freeport totaled 10 hits on the evening, with half of them coming in the bottom of the fourth.
“The kids showed up and hit the ball pretty well today,” Hotalski said. “It's been a long season. We've jammed 16 games in about three-and-a-half weeks and then to get a week-and-a-half off for the all-star game, so I think the guys came out a little relaxed and had some fun.”
Freeport had an 8-0 lead through five complete innings, but Karns City was able to make a little magic happen in the top of the sixth, scoring three runs to cut the lead to five.
Joseph Hotalski got the win on the mound for Freeport, as he struck out 10 batters and walked just three in seven innings.
“He (Joseph Hotalski) kept us off balance,” Larimore said. “We couldn't get anything solid, couldn't string any hits together and when we did we hit it right at them.”
Broc Weigle took the loss for Karns City, surrendering eight runs, but that didn't stop him from fanning eight batters through four innings pitched.
“Part of the reason I left him out there, even though he let in the six runs in the fourth, I wanted to see how he handled the adversity,” Larimore said.
Freeport added one more run in the bottom of the sixth just for good measure as it was able to retire the side in the top of the seventh to secure a six-run victory.
Matt Mitchell went 3-for-4 with two singles and a triple to help lead the way for Freeport.
Karns City will take on Cranberry Township on Saturday on the loser's side of the playoff bracket, while Freeport will face Pine Richland.
Karns City 000 003 0 — 3 3 1
Freeport 002 601 x — 9 10 1
W: Joseph Hotalski 7IP (10K, 3BB). L: Broc Weigle 4IP (8K, 3BB).
Karns City: Jake Weckerly 3B, Tyler Yough 2B, Zach Blair 2B
Freeport: Joseph Hotalski 2 1B, Matt Mitchell 2 1B, 3B, Brayden King 1B, 2B
Saturday: Karns City at Cranberry Township, Pine Richland at Freeport
