The way Taylor Clark saw it, the Emporia High baseball team let down its collective guard ever so slightly, and the Hayden Wildcats jumped all over it.
The Spartans took a one-run lead into the seventh and final inning of the second game of Monday’s doubleheader and were just three outs away from snapping an eight-game losing streak. But, as Clark said, the Spartans let their attention wane, and Hayden made them pay to the tune of three runs to give the Wildcats the 5-3 victory.
The loss meant the Spartans’ losing streak stretched to nine games, as Hayden took the first game, 8-0.
“That’s probably to most frustrating game we’ve played all year,” Clark said. “Finally, we do some stuff right, we hit the ball here and there, and then we kind of let up a little bit there in those later innings and they took advantage of it and put us away.”
The inning began ominously when Emporia High ace Cole Armitage, who had entered the game in the fifth inning in relief of Robert Keisler, hit Hayden leadoff man Billy Wheeler on the first pitch of the frame.
A single through the left side by Connor McCrite put two on for Mitch Metzler, who blasted a 2-2 pitch into the deep left corner of the outfield of Glennen Field at the Trusler Sports Complex that bounced off the wall away from EHS left fielder Taylor Anderson. The result was a two-run triple for Metzler that put Hayden (7-3, 7-3 Centennial League) ahead, 4-3.
The next batter, T.J. McGreevy popped up into shallow center, but the ball bounced off the glove of the Spartans’ second baseman Tyler Ast, which allowed Metzler to score. McGreevy was throw out at second after the throw home and Armitage struck out the next two batters, but the damage had been done, as the Wildcats held a 5-3 lead.
“That’s baseball for you, it really is,” EHS coach Mike Strickland said. “He (Armitage) goes inside, he hits a kid, and from there, we’ve got to find a way on defense to pick him up and pick each other up.”
In the Spartans’ half of the inning, Keisler lead off the inning with a bloop single to right that landed just fair, which put Armitage at the plate representing the tying run. However, Armitage hit into a double play to the shortstop, and Clark struck out next to end the game.
“I think we just let our attention go for about 2 seconds, and that was enough to put us away,” Clark said. “It’s just one of those things that happens when you put your head down for 2 seconds and leave something to chance.”
Emporia (1-9, 1-9) showed life in the early innings of Game Two in which the Spartans came back from a 2-0 deficit after the first half inning to score two runs in bottom of the first and another in the second to take a 3-2 lead.
The Spartans did their damage in the first with two outs, as Armitage drew a walk and Clark singled to put two on for Anderson. Anderson hit a blooper to shallow center that scored Armitage to make it 2-1, and EHS tied it up at 2 when Clark scored on a wild pitch by McGreevy.
Two singles and an error loaded the bases for Emporia in the second inning, and after Harrison Stone was thrown out at home on a fielder’s choice, the Spartans claimed the lead, 3-2, when Armitage drew a walk to force home Ast.
Keisler was steady for the Spartans on the mound through the fourth inning, not allowing a run after the first inning before giving way to Armitage in the fifth.
“Our defense was playing real well and everybody was making plays,” Keisler said. “That’s what you need to do in a close ballgame.”
However, the Spartans didn’t do much of anything after the second inning either, recording just three hits and no runs the rest of the way.
“We need to find a way to score every inning right now,” Strickland said. “I know the kids are getting frustrated, because they are getting better. They’re making strides, but right now, we’re just not getting rewarded for it.”
Clark and Anderson each went 2-for-3 in Game Two to lead EHS, with Anderson picking up Emporia’s only RBI.
Game One was mostly forgettable for EHS, as Hayden starter Brandon Droge pitched a one-hit, complete-game shutout in an 8-0 Wildcat victory.
Droge, who fanned 13 EHS batters, had a perfect game going through 5 1/3 innings before giving up a walk to Michael Knight and then later a single to Jared Krause.
“His location was real good,” Keisler said. “He spotted up anywhere he wanted, and he usually kept it on the outside corner.”
Emporia will try to snap its losing skid on Friday when it plays host to Junction City in a doubleheader.
Monday at Emporia
Game One
Hayden 200 110 4 — 8 13 0
Emporia 000 000 0 — 0 1 2
Droge and Metzler. Knight, Bacon (7) and Clark. W — Droge. L — Knight. 2B — Hayden: Wheeler.
Game Two
Hayden 200 000 3 — 5 7 2
Emporia 210 000 0 — 3 7 5
McGreevy, Schumacher (7) and Metzler. Keisler, Armitage (5) and Clark. W — Schumacher. L — Armitage. 2B — Hayden: Wheeler. 3B — Hayden: Metzler.