Creekside holds Sox to 4 hits in 6-2 victory
Dan Helgert sees the problem as easily fixable, but until it is corrected, he will remain a very frustrated manager.
His Butler BlueSox tallied just four hits in a 6-2 loss to Creekside in Tri-State Collegiate League baseball play Wednesday at Pullman Park.
The lackluster effort came a day after the team scored a pair of runs on three hits in a loss to the Butler Iron Bucks.
“We’re not swinging the bat,” said Helgert. “We’re getting into bad counts and we just need to start swinging at strikes. We hit the ball when we swing early in the count.”
With the game tied at two, Butler (10-8) was in position to move ahead in the bottom of the seventh. A leadoff single by Quinn Burke was followed by a one-out walk to Turner Grau and Trent Bielak reached on an error to load the bases, but reliever Guy Young got Andrew Bokulich to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.
“He was a four-year starter at Boardman (Ohio) High School and I coached him there,” Creekside manager Bob Mingo said of Young. “He’s a bulldog, has pitched in and gotten out of a lot of clutch situations.”
Young blanked the Sox over the final three innings, but it was the top of the eighth that made him a winner. The Crocodiles plated four runs (one earned) on two hits against Butler reliever Carter Beneigh. Two walks played an important role in the frame as did a fielding error that allowed a run to score. Anthony Perry doubled in a run and Caleb Jones singled in another. Beneigh threw 44 pitches in the inning.
The Sox committed six errors in the game.
“Carter was a starter for us, but was getting blisters on his hand, so we moved him to relief,” Helgert said. “We’ll move him back to a starting role soon. He deserved better than he got today.”
Butler scored both of its runs in the bottom of the third against starter Jacob Gehrig. Seth Helgert walked and Tanner Donati reached on an error. Both scored on another miscue by the Crocodiles (14-6).
Gehrig was near-flawless otherwise, striking out seven and walking one while allowing two hits in six innings.
“I’m confident every time I hand the ball to Jacob,” Mingo said. “We’re lucky to have him.”
Conor McSparran started on the mound for the Sox. He allowed two runs on four hits, struck out eight and walked one.
Butler hosts the 3B Barons on Friday.
Creekside 000 011 040 — 6 7 3
BlueSox 002 000 000 — 2 4 6
W: Guy Young 3 IP (3K, 3BB). L: Carter Beneigh 1 IP (2K, 2BB).
Creekside: Anthony Perry 2B R RBI, Chase Franken 1B 2R, Caleb Jones 1B RBI, Nate Fleming 2-1B R, JR Prossen 2B RBI
BlueSox: Chase Vrabel 2B, Tanner Donati 1B R
