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Zebras turn 3 double plays in loss
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
LOGANSPORT — Dylan Pearson pitched a one-hitter with two walks and six strikeouts, and he also picked off two runners at first base, and Deagan Kitchel drove in a run and scored a run to lead the Logansport baseball team to a 2-0 win over visiting Rochester at Jim Turner Field Thursday.
Pearson outdueled Rochester sophomore Carson Paulik, who pitched a seven-hitter. Paulik struck out four and also induced three inning-ending double plays on the drizzly but wet artificial playing surface.
The game lasted just an hour and 18 minutes, though the Zebras might have thought for a brief instant in the seventh inning that it would last longer.
Tanner Reinartz walked to lead off the seventh and moved to second when Jake Seuferer was hit by a pitch. Gavin Young’s sacrifice bunt moved runners to second and third.
That brought up Colton Ferverda, who scorched a line drive right at third baseman Jace Smith, who then stepped on third to double up Reinartz and end the game.
“We did exactly what we wanted to do,” Rochester coach Cory Good said of the top of the seventh. “Gav, we talked to him trying to move those guys over to set Ferv up for a shot, and that’s what we wanted. If that ball’s a couple inches left or right, it’s a tie game with a runner in scoring position there and one out. So that was exactly what we were trying to do there, just unfortunate to hit a rip shot at the third baseman.”
The Berries opened the scoring in the fourth. Kitchel led off with an infield hit and stole second. Cooper Smith grounded to Brady Coleman deep in the hole at shortstop, and Coleman’s throw to first was late with Kitchel holding at second.
A wild pitch moved runners to second and third, and Fincher later delivered a sacrifice fly to Drew Bowers in left to give Logansport a 1-0 lead.
In the fifth, Micah Rogers led off with a single and advanced to second on a Smith sacrifice. Bryson Herr’s single moved Rogers to third. Herr then stole second.
Kitchel then hit a grounder to Coleman, whose throw home was late to try and get Rogers.
It was 2-0.
Meanwhile, Coleman turned the pivot on double plays in the second and seventh innings and also started a double play with second baseman Brant Beck making the turn in the fifth.
Rochester played their second consecutive errorless game after committing 12 combined errors in their previous two games, which resulted in losses to Warsaw and Peru.
“We’ve just really tried to hammer home on that,” Good said of the defense. “I don’t think it’s anything we’re necessarily doing wrong but just coming up and playing a little bit more physical on the infield and trying not to make every throw on the run and getting our feet set and making good hard throws.”
As for Pearson, he walked Young with two outs in the fourth before picking him off.
Ferverda reached on an error to start the fifth, but Pearson picked him off too.
“He had a good move,” Good said. “I don’t think Ferv was out at all. … Gav, we were doing a hit-and-run on that one. I just think he had a little bad read on that one. I mean, just trying to put some pressure on them, trying to move some guys into scoring position. Yeah, kind of got bit a little bit, but we’re not going to change anything there being aggressive.”
Coleman had Rochester’s lone hit with an infield single in the third. That came three batters after Brady Beck had reached on an error. But Paulik grounded into an inning-ending forceout.
Logansport 2, Rochester 0
Rochester 000 000 0 – 0 1 0
Logansport 000 110 X – 2 7 2
WP – Dylan Pearson (7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K)
LP – Carson Paulik (6 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K)
XBH – (none)
