Maybe the Emporia Post 5 AAA team is at its best when the weather’s at its hottest and stickiest. The results from Soden’s Grove on Tuesday night seemed to indicate as much.
The AAAs smacked around the Augusta Orioles in Game One of a makeup doubleheader, getting an 8-0 run-rule win behind two RBIs apiece from Zach Shuler and Casey Atchison and a second straight complete-game performance by pitcher Sean Carr. As the evening cooled down, so did the AAAs, as Augusta won the second game 6-3 on the strength of a four-run second inning. The split moved Emporia’s record to 6-9 on the year.
A late-scheduled makeup twin bill, combined with the overwhelming heat and humidity, meant few fans were in the house for Game One, but the ones who came saw one of the AAAs’ most dominating performances of the year. Shuler went 2-for-3, doubling home a run in each of the first two innings, and Atchison added a pair of RBI singles.
“Those pitchers we were seeing weren’t throwing as fast as what we’ve been seeing most of the year,” Shuler said. “So (the) coaches were just telling me to sit back and wait on it, and when it got there, (be) quick with the hands, and hit it where they give it to you.”
Shuler drove a shot over the center fielder’s head in the first inning, reaching second and scoring Adam Ewy after Ewy led off the game with a walk. Then Harrison Stone singled, bringing Shuler home, and stole second base, putting him position for Atchison’s first RBI hit.
With one out in the second, Ewy reached on a throwing error, and Shuler got hold of another pitch, driving it to deep left to score another run. Michael Knight drove in Shuler with a single, then reached third on a pair of wild pitches. Atchison singled to drive home another run and make it 6-0.
The AAAs added their seventh run in the fourth. Knight singled, stole second base and advanced to third on an errant throw by catcher Jason Lauxman. Then, center fielder Wade McHone’s throw short-hopped third baseman Christian Ingalls, allowing Knight to advance home.
The game ended just two batters into the bottom of the fifth. Henry Ott laid down a bunt, and the catcher’s throw sailed down the right field line, allowing Ott to reach third. Then Travis LeMay dropped an RBI single over the drawn-in infield on the right side to score Ott and invoke the 8-after-5 rule.
Carr may not have been as sharp as he was in last week’s nine-inning complete-game win over Rossville, but he pitched more than well enough to win. He gave up just two hits, one walk and one hit batsman while striking out three.
“That’s kind of why we pitched Sean the first game, was because it was so hot, we knew that he would throw strikes,” AAAs coach Brad Kelly said. “That’s kind of our whole mentality, was to be on defense for a short amount of time, and then stay in the dugout and sit in the shade. Sean did a good job that first game, just throwing strikes, and our defense worked well for him, too.”
Carr only ran into brewing trouble in the top of the fourth inning. Ingalls led off with a walk, Seth Smith reached on an error and James Hinnan served a one-out single into right center to load the bases. But Kelly made a visit to the mound with the count 3-2 on Kyle Vogt, and Carr responded by dropping a slow curve on the outside corner to get Vogt looking. Then, with the bases still loaded, Lauxman grounded a tough-play bouncer toward short. Knight charged in, threw on the run and barely nipped Lauxman at first to end Augusta’s inning with no runs across.
Game Two left the AAAs with a bad taste in their mouths. They committed six errors, and Tanner Treinen, making his first start of the year, struggled in the top of the second, giving up five singles and a walk that plated four runs and gave Augusta a 5-2 advantage. The inning ended only when another RBI single — Brandon McBeth’s looper into right field — was nullified because McBeth stepped out of the batter’s box.
Treinen hung in to go the distance for Emporia, and two of the six runs he surrendered were unearned.
“Tanner pitched well enough to win the game,” Kelly said. “He just wasn’t able to get any help from his defense, and he didn’t get any help from his offense tonight.”
Knight was a bright spot for Emporia in Game Two, singling three times and walking in his final trip, giving him a 5-for-6 performance over the two games. Stone had one hit and was twice hit by a pitch. Atchison had an RBI groundout in Game Two, giving him three RBIs for the doubleheader.
“We kind of got a little lackadaisical the second game,” Knight said. “We beat ’em pretty good the first game, and we thought it was gonna be a cakewalk. We’re definitely not happy with just one here tonight — we wanted two.”
The AAAs host Ottawa tonight for another 6 p.m. doubleheader.