Bombers, Warriors to battle for title at Ramsey Tournament

RAMSEY – Patoka and Brownstown will battle for the championship of the Ramsey Tournament for the third straight season, and the Warriors will be looking to avenge last season’s loss.

The championship game will begin at approximately 5:15 p.m. on Friday.

The Bombers took down Patoka, 9-1, in last season’s title game, but after scoring 34 runs in the first two games this year, the Warriors’ offense is hoping to make sure that a loss doesn’t happen again.

“We’ll have (ace Clinton Hood) on the mound, so that gives us our best defense,” said Patoka coach Joe Eddy. “I don’t expect 11-12 hits every game, but if we have five or six big hits, we’ll be all right.”

The Warriors have collected 23 hits in the tournament, including seven that have gone for extra bases.

Brownstown will be countering with ace Austin Hunter from the mound and have also shown an ability to score runs, bringing a total of 18 across thus far in the tournament.

“We’ll probably come back with Austin if he’s ready to go,” Milano said. “We’ll try to keep going with what we’ve been doing, because Patoka is a good team.

“Our pitchers can’t give them anything,” he said. “Patoka will have to hit the ball in the gap where we can’t make plays, and hopefully we’ll score a few runs ourselves.”

Game 3
Patoka vs. Ramsey

RAMSEY – Johnnie Clift’s grand slam capped a 10-run third inning, and Patoka overcame a slow start to defeat the hosts, 21-8, at the Ramsey Tournament on Tuesday.

Clift led off the inning with a double to left-center that nearly cleared the fence, and by the time he came up again, there were still no outs.

The previous six batters had walked or been hit a pitch, and Clift wasted no time in sending the first pitch of his at-bat over the right-field fence for the first home run of the tournament.

“Today, we had big hits,” said coach Joe Eddy. “I told Johnnie to look for his pitch, because the pitcher had to get ahead. He didn’t hit it well, but it went out.”

A junior, Clift hadn’t shown a whole lot of power for Patoka (2-0) in the past, but Eddy said that his approach at the plate has changed, allowing him to make better contact.

So far in the tournament, he has three hits, and all of them have gone for extra bases.

“He showed some power in practice last year, but we never saw it in games,” Eddy said. “He’s attacking the ball until he gets two strikes, and is refusing to get cheated.”

The big inning was a must for the Warriors, who fell behind when Ramsey (0-2) batted around and scored three runs in the first inning.

Junior Tylor Knisley singled to open the game, and sophomore Waylon Davis followed with a walk. Both would score.

Senior Austin Cunningham delivered an RBI single and would score on an error to give the Rams their early lead and chase senior Quinn Wadkins from the mound.

But Patoka junior Seth Allen opened the second inning with a triple, and junior Jake Orrell drove him home with his first hit of the season, a double to right.

Senior Clinton Donaldson later doubled in his first at-bat of the year to bring home Orrell  and John Houston, who was hit by a pitch.

“After we tied it up, we felt pretty good,” Eddy said. “But when we were down by three, we were a little concerned.”

Ramsey scored five runs on five hits in the bottom of the third to cut into Patoka’s lead, with senior Colton Hunt hitting a two-run single, Knisley hitting a two-run double and Davis hitting an RBI single.

The Warriors, however, added another run in the fourth, and then scored seven times in the fifth to put the game out of reach. In that inning, Wadkins and Houston each had a two-run single, Hood had an RBI single, and Ryan Miller and Donaldson each brought home a run on a bases-loaded walk.

Tuesday, Aug. 21
Patoka 21
Ramsey 8
P: 0-3-10-1-7—21-11-3
R: 3-0-5-0-0—8-9-4
WP: Clift (1-0); 3 1/3 IP, 2 K, 5 R, 4 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 2 HBP
LP: Knisley (0-1); 1 IP, 0 K, 5 ER, 1 H, 3 BB, 1 HBP
Warriors:Clift, 2-for-4, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 3 runs, BB; Orrell, 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI, 3 runs, BB; Allen, 2-for-3, 3B, 3 runs, BB; Hood, 1-for-2, 2 RBI, 2 runs, 3 BB; Donaldson, 1-for-1, 2B, 3 RBI, run; Houston, 1-for-2, 2 RBI, run, BB, 2 HBP; Wadkins, 1-for-4, 3 RBI, 2 runs, BB; Mark Rogers, 1-for-4, RBI, run; Shane Cain, RBI, 2 runs, BB; Miller, 2 RBI, 3 runs, BB, 2 HBP; Ryan Gramlick, HBP.
Record: 2-0
Rams: Knisley, 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI, run, 2 SB; Cunningham, 2-for-3, 2B, RBI, 2 runs; Pryor, 2-for-3, run; Davis, 1-for-2, RBI, run, BB; Hunt, 1-for-3, 2 RBI, run; Tristan Wesselman, 1-for-3, run; Brady Reiss, run, HBP; Lane Webb, BB; Alex Kessinger, BB.
Record: 0-2

Game 4
Brownstown 13
Mulberry Grove 2

RAMSEY – Senior Austin Hunter had five RBI for Brownstown, and the Bombers used a pair of big innings to knock off Mulberry Grove, 13-2, on Tuesday at the Ramsey Tournament.

Junior Jacob Behrends tossed all four innings for Brownstown (2-0), the second complete game for the team this season, which coach Ken Milano said is a big help to the Bombers.

“We’re not very deep on the mound,” he said. “I didn’t know what was going to happen today if we got into pitching problems.”

There were no worries, however, as Behrends struck out seven, and only allowed an unearned run in the first and a two-out RBI single to Mulberry Grove (0-2) sophomore Alex Goodin in third.

The offense backed up Behrends (1-0), though, sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring six times in the bottom of the first.

After Shane Sefton walked and Jeff Taylor was hit by a pitch, Hunter hit an RBI double to right, and Calvin Boggs followed with an RBI single to about the same place. Taylor scored on a wild pitch during Boggs’ at-bat.

Dustin Lawson brought in another run two batters later, and freshman Brock Oberlink did the same two batters after Lawson. Sefton closed the scoring with an RBI single.

“I try to teach attitude, and one of the attitudes I like to see is when our guys make them make the play,” Milano said. “Even the young guys are doing it.”

Hunter delivered a two-run double in the third inning, the big blow in a five-run frame that gave Brownstown a comfortable 11-2 lead.

Oberlink had an RBI single and Boggs drove home a run on a sac fly, while Taylor scored on an error after being hit by a pitch.

Hunter capped his day with a two-run single in the fourth, and through the first two games of the tournament, he was 6-for-8, with two doubles, seven RBI and three runs.

Tuesday, Aug. 21
Brownstown 13
Mulberry Grove 2
M: 1-0-1-0-0–2-3-1
B: 6-0-5-2-X–13-11-3
WP: Behrends (1-0); 4 IP, 7 K, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB
LP: Goodin (0-1); 3 IP, 3 K, 11 R, 9 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 4 HBP
Bombers: Hunter, 3-for-4, 2 2B, 5 RBI, 2 runs; Oberlink, 2-for-3, 2 RBI, 2 runs, SB; Boggs, 2-for-3, 2 RBI, run, sac fly; Sefton, 1-for-2, RBI, 2 runs, 2 SB, 2 BB; Lawson, 1-for-3, RBI; Drake Hall, 1-for-3, run; Nate Matthews, 1-for-1, run, SB; Taylor, 2 runs, 2 HBP; Lance Stroble, run, 2 BB; Andrew Koonce, run, BB; Behrends, 2 HBP, SB.
Record: 2-0
Aces: Goodin, 1-for-3, RBI; Jesse Sloan, 1-for-3, run; Jesse Jernigan, 1-for-2, 2B; Kaiah Miller, run, SB, BB; Nate Ketchem, SB; Dalton Crisman, BB; Korte, BB.
Record: 0-2