Bombers hold early lead but fall to N. Clay

KINMUNDY – For four innings last Wednesday, Brownstown played nearly flawless baseball against North Clay in a semifinal regional tournament game.

But then the Cardinals showed why they were seeded No. 1, scoring 13 runs in the fifth and sixth innings to beat the fourth-seeded Bombers, 14-4.

“Colten (Hunter) went out there and threw four beautiful innings,” said Brownstown coach Ken Milano. “Then (North Clay) made a couple important plays, and that was it.”

North Clay, the eventual regional champions, snatched the momentum by opening the fifth inning with a new pitcher, Dalton Zimmerman, who struck out three straight batters on 13 total pitches.

Nate Micklautz then led off the bottom of the frame with a home run for the Cardinals. Four hits and two walks would follow to add five more runs to give North Clay a 7-4 lead.

Eight batters would reach base and seven would score off of freshman Eric Gurtner in the bottom of the sixth to end the game.

Brownstown did score first, bringing home three runs in the top of the second inning.

Junior Brady McDowell, freshman Jacob Behrends and sophomore Shane Sefton all reached base to open the inning, and McDowell and Behrends scored after a throwing error on senior Bryce Mason’s two-out dribbler to the mound.

Two pitches later, Gurtner blooped a ball down the right field line. It landed about 6 inches inside the foul line for an RBI double.

North Clay’s Perry Pearson was credited with an infield single to open the second inning after McDowell made a diving stop at third base. His throw was on target and beat Pearson by half a step, but the umpire called him safe.

Pearson would later be caught stealing, so the play did not have any effect on the game, but small plays such as that and some close pitches that went North Clay’s way did impact the game, Milano said.

“A couple times, the ball  didn't bounce our way,” he said. “Did it cost us? Probably not, but it might have cost us momentum.”

The Bombers recovered from the missed the call, using three doubles in the third inning to add a run. Base running errors, however, cost them the opportunity to score more, and the inning ended after four batters when

Sefton was aggressively tagged out between second and third base.

North Clay did not take advantage of that potential momentum-shifter, however, going hitless in the bottom of the third.

The Cardinals did lead off the fourth with a double and after Hunter recorded two outs, he walked Pearson on a borderline pitch that could have ended the inning.

After another walk, North Clay scored on a failed pickoff- turned double steal, which was the only blemish for Brownstown in the early going.

“We played really well at the beginning of the game,” Milano said, “but they are bigger than us, have more depth and our pitcher got tired.”

Hunter will be back next season as the team’s ace, and Milano hopes that next season will be a little more consistent than the 2011 spring.

The Bombers closed the season with an 8-12 record.

“It’s been like a roller coaster,” he said. “We started off really well, then hit a low spot and we finished off really well.

“I’m excited about next year. I’m only losing one senior (Mason) and have a lot of guys coming back.”

Box
BHS 0-3-1-0-0-0-0—4-6-2
NCHS 0-0-0-1-6-7-X—14-13-3
WP: Zimmerman
LP: C. Hunter