Print |
E-mail to a friend
SPORTS
Huntington High blasts Fairland
Huntington's Anthony Brunetti is tagged out at home plate by Matt Campbell of Fairland during the baseball game on Thursday, April 15, 2010, at Huntington High School.
Purchase this photo
Related:
HUNTINGTON -- After the game, Huntington High baseball coach Greg Rowsey had his players lay their bats out in front of the dugout. He wanted to check which bats were actually used and which were not before he toted equipment to Parkersburg this weekend for a tournament.
Maybe he should have been checking the bats for dents instead.
The Highlanders pounded out 12 hits in a resounding 12-2 win over Fairland in six innings on Thursday evening at Cook-Holbrook Field.
"We've been fortunate. We've been hitting the ball a little better," Rowsey said of his team, which lit up the scoreboard for 16 runs in a win over Lincoln County on Wednesday. "But Fairland's a good team. They do real well in their class over there (in Ohio).
"And I came out here today and didn't take anything for granted. I told our boys, 'This is a team that's in close proximity. We have to play hard to get bragging rights.'"
Huntington High can brag all it wants now.
At the dish, it scrapped together six runs in the game's first three innings.
Some of those came the traditional way -- such as a Chase Adkins' sacrifice fly in the first to score Zach Sizemore. Others came in a wackier fashion, such as the craziness that unfolded in the third.
Ten Highlanders came to the plate in the four-run third, but only two had hits while the Highlanders left the bases loaded.
One play summed up the whole frame.
After Fairland pitcher Jon Baise had his fourth ball to Sizemore trickle all the way to the backstop, Chase Dempsey hustled in safely home. Matt Campbell, the Dragons' catcher, hurried his throw to the plate to try to catch the speedy Dempsey, but it was off-target and rolled slowly back out to the pitcher's mound.
Realizing the opportunity, Anthony Brunetti scooted his way safely across the plate, too.
After the dust settled, it was scored a walk with a wild pitch that led to two runs and a throwing error.
Overall the oddly-played-out bottom of the third inning featured two passed balls, a wild pitch, two walks, one hit-batter and two errors.
"You have to be able to run the bases and when they had some miscues, like a passed ball or a bobbled ball, we did a good job of producing runs," Rowsey said.
The six runs were more than enough for hurler Hunter Smith, a freshman who was making his first varsity start.
Blessed with a suitcase full of pitches, including the occasional knuckle ball, Smith shook off early-inning nerves to earn a four-hit, complete game win.
"He was a gamer," Rowsey said of his rookie on the hill. "He's got a good selection of pitches. He even threw a couple of knuckle balls for strikes.
"He's got a bright future. We just have to be selective in when we pitch him and make sure we don't put him in a situation where he's going to be overwhelmed and lose a little bit of his confidence."
But it's tough for a pitcher to lose confidence when an offense is backing him like Huntington High (12-2) was Thursday.
Dempsey led the way with three hits and two runs scored. Adkins had three RBI and Brunetti scored three runs.
The Highlanders will play against Federal Hocking (Ohio) today in Parkersburg.
FAIRLAND 001 010 -- 2 4 4
HUNTINGTON HIGH 204 321 -- 12 12 1
Baise, Ross (4), Schenework (6) and Campbell. Smith and Spurlock. WP -- Smith. LP -- Baise. Hitting: (F) Baise 1-2, 2 SB, R; Roe 1B, R. (HH) Dempsey 3-3; Adkins 1-2, 3 RBI; Geiger 2 RBI; Garton RBI; Haer RBI; Sizemore RBI.
