A-15s open Zone with 11-2 setback to Olathe East
Jason Elmquist
Friday, July 20, 2007
Lawrence — A disastrous third inning was all it took to set the Emporia A-15s squad into a tailspin in the opening game of the Kansas American Legion Class ‘A’ Zone Tournament against Olathe East at Free State High.
After two decent innings from Emporia starting pitcher Jacob Loucks, Olathe East scored six runs in the third and went on to run-rule Emporia 11-2 in five innings.
“The first two innings looked pretty good and I thought we were going to play with these guys all game long,” Emporia coach Dick Evans said. “We were scoring runs and moving runners and pitching was really solid. It doesn’t sound like a whole lot when you’re just talking about two innings but we really came unglued there in the third inning.”
Loucks retired the first four batters of the game — two of them on strikeouts — but then issued back-to-back walks followed by an RBI double in the second inning. Another Eagles runner would score on a fielder’s choice and the damage was held to a minimum.
In the top of the second, Emporia scored the first run of the game off an RBI bunt-single by Malik Sommers that scored Nathaniel Flanigan, who had reached base after being hit by a pitch.
However, the momentum swing also affected Emporia offensively. In the last two innings, Olathe East’s starting pitcher Dylan Murray struck out six batters and allowed just two base runners — both thanks to four-pitch walks.
“I don’t know if it’s the realization that, ‘Hey, this is a good team and we’ve let them get too far ahead of us,’” Evans said. “They can’t depend on one or two people to do it. The whole team has got to do it and basically the whole team just kind of folded at the same time.”
The one bright spot for Emporia was the plate performance of Matthew Fry. Fry went 2-for-2 with an RBI double and was walked on four straight pitches in his final at-bat.
“This guy was throwing pretty fast and I just adjusted my swing to get the bat through there quicker and let the ball carry itself with all the power it’s coming in with,” Fry said. “You’ve just got to adjust your hitting stance when you go against a guy like this.”
Emporia will play against the host Lawrence Renegades at 6 tonight in the consolation bracket. The Renegades lost to the No. 1-seeded Blue Valley Huskies, 16-2. The winner of the Emporia versus Lawrence match up will go on to play Saturday night at 6 p.m.