Trending
WEIRTON -- One swing of the bat made the difference.
Parker Varney launched a two-run home run in the top of the first inning leading the Carrollton baseball team to a 3-1 victory against Madonna in the first game of a doubleheader Thursday afternoon at Bowman Field.
"We have been doing that lately," Carrollton (4-4) head coach Brian Connelly said about his team taking an early the lead. "We have been doing that in our last couple of games, but we have been unable to hold onto the lead. We lost some one run games. We were able to hold the lead today.
"Our pitching and defense have been there. We are working on trying to score runs. I think that will come now that we are playing every day. Like everybody else, we have not been able to play consistently. I am happy we are able to get out and play today. Coach Baire and I are happy that the sun came out.
"I love coming to this field. This is one of my favorite places to play and to come back to. I am a valley guy."
The Blue Dons had a golden opportunity to at least tie the game in the seventh as Madonna had runners on second and third with no outs, however, the boys from Hancock County were not able to bring the runners home as the Warriors held on for the victory.
"This is pretty much where we have been throughout the season," Madonna (5-9) head coach Jeff Baire said. "We are starting to play better as a team. It is a situation where we gave ourselves a chance. We are just unable to push runs across. We had an opportunity in the seventh down two with runners on second and third. We gave ourselves a chance, but we just didn't execute. The exciting part is we are finally getting to that part.
"It is a matter of learning how to win. We don't look for an opportunity to win a game. We look at when is the next mistake going to come.
"I feel that is just the way our games have been going as of late. We play well, but we have one bad inning. We had a chance, but we did not execute on our offensive opportunity."
Both teams used multiple pitchers.
Brant George pitched six solid innings en route to recording the win for the boys from Carroll County. George struck out five and walked one. Hayden Jenkins came on to pitch the seventh, and after allowing a single and a double, he retired the next three batters to pitch himself out of harm's way. Jenkins struck out two without walking a batter.
"We have gotten good pitching all year," Connelly said. "Our pitching has been solid. Our defense has been solid. We are just trying to string together some hits.
"Their pitcher pitched a heck of a game. He had good movement on his two-seamer. He kept us off-balance. He did a real nice job."
Matt Amaismeier pitched well for the Blue Dons, but he was saddled with the loss. Amaismeier struck out seven and walked one in his six innings of work on the mound. David Connors, who started the game at second, came on to pitch the seventh. He struck out two without walking a batter.
Madonna plated a run in the second to make the score 2-1, but Carrollton collected an insurance run in the fourth to regain a two-run lead at 3-1. George and Jenkins made sure the lead held up the rest of the way.
"We are not scoring runs," Baire said. "When you are down 2-0 in the first inning, it can seem like an insurmountable lead.
"Our pitchers threw well. There were a lot of positives. We have pitched well. We just have to work on our offense. Offensively, you have to execute when you have the opportunity. You have to want to be in those situations. You have to learn how to be in those situations."
Both teams mustered six hits. Half of Carrolton's six hits went for extra bases, while only one did for Madonna.
Jaxon Rinkes tripled to lead off the game for the Warriors. Then after a flyout and a strikeout, Varney sent a ball over the fence in center to give the visitors a 2-0 advantage.
Koleton Grishkevich led off the second for the hosts with one of his two singles on the day. The shortstop then stole second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a groundout by Brycen Hair to cut the Blue Dons' deficit to 2-1.
After a scoreless third inning, the victors added to their lead with a run on a wild pitch to regain their two-run advantage.
Madonna had a chance to score in the sixth, but the Blue Dons stranded a pair of runners keeping their deficit at 3-1.
Hair then led off the seventh with a single, and he advanced to second on a wild pitch. Graham Molnar then reached on a bloop double putting runners on second and third, however, Jenkins was able to get out of the inning unharmed thanks to back-to-back strikeouts and a groundout to short to end the game.
"We went out there last season, and we played two good games," Baire said. "I think we won one, 4-2, and then lost one, 3-1.
"We have been playing solid baseball. We play well for six innings or 6 1/3 innings, but we are not able to put a full game together. Today, we did not allow that big inning.
"Against Williamstown, the game was 3-2 in the sixth, and we ended up losing, 8-2. We played Buckeye Local last night. They have been playing phenomenal baseball. It was a tight game. It was 1-0 in the sixth and 2-1 in the seventh, and we went on to lose, 7-2."
Connelly said he would like to continue to play Madonna.
"We started doing this last year," he said. "They were looking for a game, and we were looking for a game. We ended up playing a doubleheader at our place. I like this. I want to keep playing them. I would like to get Weir High in on this."
Landon James delivered a single and a double for the Warriors, while Isaac Moore and Joe Carman each recorded a base hit.
Luke Amaismeier and Matt Amaismeier each ripped a single for the Blue Dons.
Carrollton scored in five of the seven innings in Game 2 as the Warriors defeated the Blue Dons, 12-4, to sweep the doubleheader.
After recording the save in the first game, Jenkins picked up the win in relief in the second game. He pitched the final four innings, striking out seven and walking two.
Josh Price started the game on the mound for Carrollton, and he pitched the first three innings. He struck out two and walked two.
Madonna used three pitchers in the game.
Lucas McAllister started the game on the mound, and he took the loss. McAllister struck out five and walked four in 3 2/3 innings of work. He was replaced with two outs in the fourth by Chase Littleton. He struck out five and walked two in his 2 1/3 innings of work. Sean Gilmore came on to pitch the seventh. Gilmore did not record a strikeout while walking one.
Carrollton tallied 12 runs on 11 hits in Game 2.
Madonna ended up scoring four runs on seven hits.
Individually, Grishkevich contributed two singles and an RBI, Littleton tallied a single and an RBI and Matt Amaiseier collected three base hits. Also, for the Blue Dons, Luke Amaismeier singled.
The visitors scored a run in the first to take a 1-0 lead, however, Madonna plated a pair of runs in the home half of the inning to take its first lead of the day at 2-1. The visitors answered with two runs in the home half of the third to regain the lead at 3-2, but the home team tallied a run in the bottom half of the inning to knot the score up at 3.
The victors gained the momentum by scoring four runs in the fourth to take a 7-3 lead. The hosts battled back and scored a run in their half of the inning to pull within 7-4, however, that is as close as Madonna got the rest of the way.
After a scoreless fifth inning, the Warriors pushed another run across to regain their four-run advantage at 8-4. Carrollton then added four more runs in the seventh breaking the game open as it took a 12-4 advantage.
Both teams are scheduled to play on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
Madonna is scheduled to play city-rival Weir back at Bowman Field, while Carrollton is set to play Alliance at home.
Game 1
Carrollton 3, Madonna 1
Carrollton 200 100 0 – 3 6 1
Madonna 010 000 0 – 1 6 0
CARROLLTON (3-4): George WP (6IP, 5K, 1BB), Jenkins (1IP, 2K, 0BB) and James. Rinkes T, Moore S; Varney HR, 2RBI; Carman S; James S, D.
MADONNA (5-8): M. Amaismeier LP (6IP, 7K, 1BB), Connors (1IP, 2K, 0BB) and L. Amaismeier. L. Amaismeier S; M. Amaismeier S; Grishkevich 2S; Hair S, RBI; Molnar D.
Game 2
Carrollton 12, Madonna 4
Carrollton 120 401 4 – 12 11 3
Madonna 201 010 0 – 4 7 6
CARROLLTON (4-4): Price (3IP, 2K, 2BB), Jenkins WP (4IP, 7K, 2BB) and Moore. Rinkes S, RBI; Birong S, RBI; Wade S, D, 3RBI; Moore S, D, 3RBI; Varney S; Smith 2S; Irwin S, D, RBI.
MADONNA (5-9): McAllister LP (3 2/3IP, 5K, 4BB), Ch. Littleton (2 1/3IP, 5K, 2BB), Gilmore (1IP, 0K, 1BB) and Gontas. L. Amaismeier S; M. Amaismeier 3S; Ch. Littleton S, RBI; Grishkevich 2S, RBI.