Eagles Win Conference Opening Thriller In Extra Inning Of Play

 

An MRVC-East pitching duel between Eagles pitcher Wes Brown and Panthers pitcher Trent Gallagher required an extra inning play on Monday, Mar. 31, with Holden securing the victory over Knob Noster by the final score of 1-0.

Holden relief pitcher Kale Tryon helped the Eagle cause by pitching for the final out in the top of the eighth inning of the game as Holden secured its first conference win in its first opportunity of the season.

A ground ball hit by Tryon in the bottom of the eighth provoked a throwing error by Knob Noster which allowed courtesy runner Chasen Hall to score the winning lone run of the game. Hall had entered the game for Eagle first baseman Trace Angell who drew a leadoff walk in the frame.

“I knew they were going to throw Gallagher and we were going to throw Wes, and it was going to be a one-nothing, 2-1 game going into it,” said Holden baseball coach Jeff Smith. “I’m just glad we came out on the top end. We’ve played a lot of these games with Knob over the past three or four years. It’s always fun to play them. There’s good sportsmanship on both sides.

“I mean, we enjoy playing each other, but I was super proud of Wes today,” highlighted coach Smith. “He came out and had a little bit of control issues there right at the first inning, but then after that I mean, he was so efficient there at the end of the game. He knew when he was getting close to the pitch count, he was getting three pitches across for strikes which is good for any high school pitcher, and it showed there with one hit.”

Knob Noster’s lone hit arrived in the fourth inning on a leadoff single from Garrett Eames. An error on a hit by Oliver Defenbaugh put two Panther runners on with no outs for Knob Noster’s biggest threat of the game.

Following a sacrifice bunt that moved Eames and Defenbaugh up a bag each, Brown recorded two strikeouts to end Knob Noster’s half of the fourth.

In the bottom of the fourth, Holden put two runners on when shortstop Cohen Drake was hit by a pitch, and designated hitter Tucker Kauffman drew a walk. Gallagher ended the inning by coaxing a ground out.

Holden put runners on in both the fifth and sixth innings before the frames stalled out. Vance Davis drew a walk in the fifth, and was left stranded on second base after stealing. Drake doubled in the sixth with one out, and was left perched at second following two outs after his hit.

Brown and the Eagle defense held Knob Noster off the base paths through the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings as the game remained scoreless at the end of regulation play.

“Just stay focused, and I’ve got a great defense behind me,” said Brown in regard to his approach in the start on the mound. “I know it’s going to be a competitive game all the way through. Knob had a great arm on the mound, and just stay focused, pound the zone, try to be efficient, go deeper into the game.”

With the score at 0-0 entering the eighth inning, Brown went as deep into the game as the pitch count rule allows.

Following a strikeout of Panther player Colton McNeel, Brown’s final pitch of the game represented his second strikeout of the inning when he sent Gallagher to the dugout when the Panther pitcher watched a third strike go into the glove of Eagle catcher Drake Gard.

With Brown at his pitch limit, coach Smith called on Tryon to finish the inning.

Brown stepped off the mound and yielded to Tryon after recording 14 strikeouts, allowing three walks, and giving up just one hit.

“I said just go shove,” said Brown of his advice offered to Tryon. “You know what you’ve got to do. You had a great outing for us last week, so go out there and just pitch to your ability. I know you’ve got it in the tank. He went out and did just that.”

Following a jog from center field where he started the game, and a few warm-up pitches, Tryon coaxed a ground ball from Eames to end the top of the eighth.

“I knew Wes was getting close in the pitch count,” said Tryon. “He pitched one of the best games I’ve seen in a long time. Going on the mound, I was just trying to let my defense work because I trust in every guy on the field. My approach was go in there, throw strikes, and let the best defense in the state work.”

The bottom of the eighth inning for Holden began with a walk from first baseman Trace Angell.

It was at that point when Gallagher reached his pitch count and was relieved by Eames who exited his second base spot, and Gallagher moved to shortstop.

For Holden, courtesy runner Chasen Hall entered the game to run for Angell.

Following three frustrating at-bats earlier in the game, Tryon stepped to the plate against Eames and delivered a hard ground ball to Cade Cantrell who had been inserted at second base in place of Eames.

Cantrell’s throw to second base on Tryon’s ground ball sailed into left field.

The errant throw allowed Hall to round third and cross the plate for the winning run.

As Tryon hustled to first base on the ground ball, the senior was unaware of the overthrow to second base. He became aware of the error, and the resulting score by Hall as he rounded first base at the urging of first base coach Trent Pritchard.
“Oh man, it was awesome,” said Tryon. “Pritchard was waving me on. I didn’t know what was going on just because I’m hustling so hard. I saw Chasen come in there for a pinch run, and he’s a super fast guy. We capitalized on it, they made a tough throw, and he scored. That was it.

“I had no idea,” continued Tryon. “I came out of the box going as hard as I could. I just heard Pritchard say, ‘Go, go, go!” I looked over at Chasen. He was hauling as fast as he can, so props to him for coming in a tough spot and running his tail off.”

Tryon’s ground ball tipped the scale to the Eagles in the game.

“It was a tough pitcher on the mound,” said Tryon. “I played summer ball with him. He’s a Missouri Western commit, I think, real good arm. The whole team put together good at-bats against him, got out of the game, and when it came down to it, they had to pull him. We capitalized off of it.

“As a team, it was a lot of good mental toughness. My approach was just try and put it in play, let them make a play, and it paid off.”

Hall continued a stretch of games as a courtesy runner, among a group of players ready to enter any game when called upon by coach Smith.

“I think he’s leading the team in runs right now,” said coach Smith in regard to Hall. “He’s super fast, probably the fastest kid we’ve got on the team. We’ve kind of groomed him into that over the last couple years in JV, trying to make sure he’s a good base runner for this point right here, and he’s done a great job for us all year long. I feel like he can steal against any catcher right now. He was about to right there until Kale got that hit. He’s a great kid to have on the team, and we’ve got multiple guys in the dugout that are pinch runners, courtesy runners there and can come in and benefit.”

Holden as a team finished the game with two hits as Drake and Davis each hit safely one time apiece. Davis, Kauffman, and Angell each had one walk with Drake earning a pass to first after being hit by a pitch.

“We tried to get up there with two-strike approaches, getting the foot down and hands back,” said coach Smith. “He was spotting up well. He was getting some calls, we were getting some calls. We overcame. We talked about mental toughness all year at the beginning of the year, and these games like that are when it comes into play and we’ve got to be more mentally tough. I think we did a pretty good job of that. Body language at times was a little disappointing, but for the most part, when you win in a one-to-nothing game, you’re body language has got to be good, and your mental toughness has got to be good.”

Eagles Pick Up Second MRVC-East Win
The Holden baseball team recorded its second conference win of the season by defeating Lexington in the final score of 10-0 in a game played at Holden High School Thursday, Apr. 3.

Holden scored two runs in the first inning, five runs in the second inning, and three runs in the fourth inning as the Minutemen failed to score in the conference contest.

Eagle senior starting pitcher Trace Angell worked all five innings of the run-rule shortened game as he allowed just three hits and no walks while recording 5 strikeouts.

At the plate for Holden, Tyler Barker had a team-high 3 RBIs on 2 hits. Drake Gard had 2 hits and 1 RBI. Tucker Kauffman had 1 hit and 2 walks. Blake Naumann and Cohen Drake each had 1 RBI. Angell totaled 3 walks. Garrett Stoyko had 1 walk. Lane Spoor-Wright was hit by a pitch. Stoyko, Kale Tryon, and Brody Graves each had 2 stolen bases. Barker and Chasen Hall each had 1 stolen base.

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