Finding their mojo
SHICKSHINNY — Northwest showed it had the ability to be patient when it needed to be and aggressive when the opportunity presented itself.
It showed such for much of a six-run second inning en route to the Rangers’ 8-2 win over Benton in high school baseball Tuesday afternoon.
Chase Biller began the scoring spree with a leadoff double. Matt Sorber and Matt Pierontoni then worked back-to-back walks to load the bases for Jake Piestrak. He cashed in with a bloop single to right to score Biller.
Sorber and Pierontoni scored on Dom Granahan’s single up the middle. As the lineup turned over to Tom Antolik, he and the Rangers thought he had an RBI on a hit up the middle. Instead, the ball hit off an umpire’s foot and everyone was only awarded a base, loading them for Alex Kopco. He promptly singled to left, scoring Piestrak and Granahan for the other multi-RBI knock of the inning.
Kopco later scored on a fielder’s choice.
“We’re not a great hitting team by any means, but we’re getting better towards the end of the season,” Northwest coach Lon Hazlet said. “We’re a little bit behind where we’d like to be in terms of barreling up the ball and putting the ball in play, but the guys are getting there.
“They’re starting to get a better idea of how to do things at the plate by getting the pitches they want and swinging at them”
Benton coach Jim Shires said the inning turned in by Graydon Beishline was uncharacteristic. He put himself in a 2-ball count or worse in four at-bats.
“We didn’t throw strikes and we let [the inning] get away from us,” Benton coach Bill Shires said. “We didn’t throw strikes and got behind in our counts, and it gives them an advantage when hitting, 2-0, 3-0. They didn’t hit the ball all that hard, but they found spots and were patient [at the plate].”
As for the Tigers, they had no answers for the pitching they saw from Rangers starter Joey Noss. The senior dominated to the tune of 3 1/3 innings, striking out nine of the 12 batters he faced. He gave up one hit and gave one free pass before being pulled for pitch count purposes.
“Everything was sort of working for him. He was hitting his spots, had command of three or four pitches and was pounding the zone,” Hazlet said. “We wanted to force them to put the ball in play with our defense playing well as of late, but what he did tonight was definitely a boost in the arm for us.”
The Rangers removed Noss after 50 pitches because they’re playing four games in five days, hoping to have as many options as possible moving forward.
The end of the season schedule made the Rangers even more aggressive, stealing seven bases in hopes of getting guys to score easier and get out without going through a slew of arms. The strategy amounted to them scoring two more runs — Granahan driving in Sorber on a fielder’s choice in the third and Noss scoring from second on an infield error in the fourth.
Noss and Granahan proved to be a thorn in the Tigers’ side, being the only players to steal a base, drive in a run and score a run.
In the fifth, the Rangers were in need of just a base hit with Granahan on third and Androlik on second. Tigers reliever Max Steward, instead, got Kopco to ground out to third with Austin Doreskewicz making a great play on the receiving end at first on a short hop.
Keeping the game alive allowed Benton to have the last say.
“We’re a very young team, having one senior and starting four freshmen,” Shires said. “I’m really proud [of the team’s finish], they play hard every game. There’s no give up in them.”
The Tigers struck for their only runs in the seventh. Connor Kapp had arguably the best swing of the day, doubling to deep center. The hit got him and Landon Shires, who reached on a hit by a pitch to start the inning, into scoring position.
Shires scored a fielder’s choice to second hit by Doreskewicz. Kapp scored on an errant pickoff attempt to get James DiLossi, who reached on a walk. The throw, instead, went into right field.
Benton 000 000 2 — 2 3 2
Northwest 061 100 x — 8 7 1
Graydon Beishline, Josh Grassley (3), Max Steward (5) and Connor Kapp. Joey Noss, Matt Sorber (4), Dom Granahan (7) and Tom Antolik.
W — Noss. L — Beishline.
Top hitters: Benton — Grassley, 1-3, double; Kapp, 1-3 double, run. Northwest — Alex Kopco, 2-4, 2 RBIs; Granahan, 1-2, 3 RBIs, run; Chase Biller 1-3, double, run.
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