Miscues pile up for Freeport in section loss
FREEPORT — Mistakes shouldn’t compound.
From near the dugout Tuesday evening, Freeport baseball coach Ed Carr reminded his team of that during a fourth inning in which it allowed visiting Burrell to plate six runs at Freeport Community Park’s Laube Hall.
“We didn’t play well today — bottom line — and we talked about this,” Carr said following the 13-7 defeat. “We feel like if we’re going to get beat, we’re going to probably beat ourselves a lot of times ... It just wasn’t our game. We let them do what they wanted do offensively later in the game because they had a lead.”
The Yellowjackets’ starter on the mound, Michael Hanz, got through the first two innings using only 17 pitches. But, heading into the third frame up by a run thanks to a first-inning RBI single by Zach Clark, Hanz gave up three hits and the Bucs took a one-run lead.
Burrell (6-2, 4-1) dealt its real damage in the inning that followed. Reese Kennedy led matters off by slapping a single up the middle with a full count, then Hanz gave consecutive free passes to Kwade Kirchartz and Mike McKay. Kennedy crossed home on a wild pitch, then Brayden Mell’s single pushed across the other two.
Justin Hyland and AJ McClafferty both got on via walks later in the inning, and Ryan Scheftic helped his own cause with a two-RBI single.
“They kicked it around a little bit at points and times,” Bucs coach Mark Spohn said. “Our goal was to put the ball in play. He (Hanz) strikes out a lot of people. All of his other starts, he was averaging double digits, I think ... I thought we played really, really aggressive. We didn’t take a backseat at all.”
Freeport (6-2, 4-1) got back within two in the bottom fifth, adding four runs to the board without notching a hit. Tyler Asti, Jonathan Hotalski, and Clark all reached base on balls — while Jack Smetak was hit by a pitch — and each got all the way around in the frame.
Three fielding errors and a few defensive hiccups in the last two innings allowed Burrell extra chances to add to its advantage, and the Yellowjackets wouldn’t get any closer.
“We’ve been averaging only an error a game and today we kind of imploded defensively,” Carr said. “That’s what happens sometimes when you face adversity. A good team is going to try to push the envelope and make you make more mistakes. We fell trap to that today.”
The teams will meet again Wednesday for the second half of a home-and-home. Freeport had won each of its first four WPIAL Section 3-3A matchups with sweeps of Derry Area and Deer Lakes.
“The mental aspect was probably as important of our mistakes as anything else today,” Carr said. “We got behind and we kind of beat ourselves. I told these guys we can think about it, assess it for a couple hours tonight and we’ve got to come back tomorrow.
“Sometimes it’s a good thing to get humbled and get back at it.”
Burrell 002 602 3 — 13 8 3
Freeport 101 040 1 — 7 5 6
W: Ryan Scheftic 4IP (0K, 3BB). L: Michael Hanz 3.1IP (1K, 3BB).
Burrell (6-2, 4-1): AJ McClafferty 2B 1B RBI 3R, Ryan Bates RBI, Ryan Scheftic 1B 2RBI, Reese Kennedy 1B R, Kwade Kirchartz R, Mike McKay 2R, Brayden Mell 3-1B 2RBI 2R, Justin Hyland 1B 4R.
Freeport (6-2, 4-1): Brady Stivenson R, Tyler Asti 2R, Zach Clark 2-1B RBI R, Jack Smetak 2-1B RBI R, Jonathan Hotalski 2R, Michael Hanz 1B RBI.
Wednesday: Freeport at Burrell
