CL All-Stars Leaks in Loss to Seguin, 18-15
The Canyon Lake All-Stars could not hold Seguin down long enough to wrestle a win in the double elimination contest, Friday in New Braunfels Junior Field. The loss will pit the Hawks against the Seguin and New Braunfels losing team next Wednesday, July 6th.
Canyon Lake was the home team and had the advantage of batting last, but battling an eight run deficit proved to big of a hurdle to overcome in the last inning.
The error bug was the culprit in the earlier innings as the fielding allowed Seguin to score multiple runs without the benefit of hits. Unfortunately for the Hawks, the runs count the same no matter how the opposition crosses the plate.
Seguin scored three unearned runs in the top of the first inning as the Hawks could not find the handle on the ball and matched those three runs with three errors in the inning.
The good news, was the resilience of the Hawks, when they answered the bell with three runs scored in the bottom of the same inning.
Tyler Vinson started the run brigade with a single and promptly stole second base. Starting pitcher Gordon McCleary reached on a walk, followed by solid hit off the bat of Cody Powell for the first run.
Colton Avey then greeted the Seguin pitcher with a single through the left side of the infield scoring two more runs and tying the score. Avey would finish with seven rbi’s in the contest.
The eventual downfall for the Hawks was the inability of keeping Seguin from scoring on any given inning. Seguin scored every inning but the seventh while Canyon Lake liked to score on every odd numbered inning.
The third inning the Hawks were down 5-3 when Avey hit a rocket 320 feet down the left field line for a homerun, driving in three runs. The homerun was Avey’s second one of the season.
“I did not think it was over,” ‘Babe’ Avey said. “I was feeling a homerun and then he (Seguin pitcher) threw it right down the plate.”
The Hawks scored another run when Jordan Weber reached base on a walk and advanced to third after a passed ball and wild pitch. Nick Adams did the rest on a single and a Canyon Lake 7-5 lead.
The lead was short lived however when Seguin answered with five runs in the top of the fourth inning. In fact, Seguin scored 11 unanswered runs with another six spot in the top of the fifth inning.
The game was 16-7 when the Hawks came to bat in the bottom of that inning. Lucky for Canyon Lake it was an odd numbered inning. The three runs scored brought the home team within striking distance, 16-10.
The big hit in the inning was off the bat of McCleary, as he hit a gapper to the fence scoring a run and setting the table for Powell to knock in Vinson with one of his two hits on the night.
The pattern continued when the Hawks could not plug the leak and allowed two more runs and giving Seguin a comfortable lead, 18-10 going into the final inning.
The score could of been worse, but a spectacular catch of a grounder from third baseman Cahill allowed the Hawks to keep the inning respectable.
“I allowed two hits that I missed,” third baseman Cahill said. “I dove for the ball and saw the base runner half way down the base line, then I put all I had into the throw to get him out.”
Seguin scored two runs on one single in the inning continuing the defensive and pitching woes of Canyon Lake.
The Hawks ended the game on a good note going into the next game this coming Wednesday when they finally plugged the leak and kept Seguin from scoring in the seventh. It was an inning that made Gordon the Plumber one of the sponsors for the team proud.
“We have a lot of fight left,” pitcher Tyler Vinson said. “We wanted to come and get them. Defensively we did not have a good game….but we did get the bats on the ball.”
Down eight runs the Hawks responded with five runs, putting a scare in the comfortable lead and giving Canyon Lake something to build on when they come to the diamond again next Wednesday.
A single from Cahill, double from Avey, and a bloop triple off the bat of Jake Merritt were the big hits bringing the final four hour game to a close, 18-15.
“It was a chess match tonight,” Coach Eddie Avey said. “We just could not get a good defensive mind. But we won’t give up and I would not want to be anywhere but here.”
There was talk that the concession stand was starting to serve eggs and bacon to the fans.
The game was a hard fought grinder and now the team can concentrate on working with Gordon the Plumber and find out ways to plug the leaks.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Seguin 3 1 1 5 6 2 0 18 14 3
Canyon Lake 3 0 4 0 3 0 5 15 14 6
DP- Seg 1; CL 1. LOB- Seg 8; CL 8. 2B- McCleary 1,
Avey 1. 3B- Merritt 1. HR- Avey 1. HBP- Vinson 1.
SB- Vinson 2, Powell 1.
Name ab r h rbi bb so lob
Nick Cahill 4 2 2 0 1 2 0
Tyler Vinson 3 2 2 1 1 0 0
Gordon McCleary 4 1 1 1 1 2 4
Cody Powell 3 3 2 1 2 0 0
TJ Jones 4 2 0 0 1 2 2
Colton Avey 4 2 3 7 0 0 0
Tavion Soliz 2 1 0 0 0 0 2
Cody Davis 3 0 1 0 1 0 0
Nick Adams 2 0 2 1 0 0 0
Jordan Weber 2 1 0 0 1 2 0
Jake Merritt 1 1 1 1 0 0 0
29 15 14 12 8 8 8
Pitching ip h r er bb so wp hbp bk
Gordon McCleary 3.2 9 7 4 3 3 3 1 0
Cody Powell 1.2 4 5 2 1 1 2 1 0
Nick Cahill .1 1 2 2 2 0 1 1 1
Colton Avey .1 0 4 3 2 1 1 1 0
Tyler Vinson 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Loss- Cody Powell. Pitches/strikes: McCleary 77/47;
Powell 47/23; Cahill 14/5; Avey 22/9; Vinson 9/4.
Start: 7:10 PM Time: 3:40
Weather: 92, Cloudy, Muggy, No Wind.
Mosquitoes Killed: 6.
