By Bobby Mathews, Sports Editor
MOODY — The Blue Devils had their chances in the last two innings, leaving four runners on base — including three in scoring position — as Springville scraped by with a 4-3 victory here Thursday.
Springville’s Zach Brown catches a throw at second as Moody’s Nathaniel Kennedy slides into the bag. (Photo by Ron Burkett)
The Tigers got on the board in the first when Jacob Neal scored Caleb McCarty. They held Moody scoreless in the bottom of the inning, and then added a run when Asa Morrison scored on a wild pitch from Moody’s Christopher Goodwin.
“The key for us in this game — and you mentioned it — was being able to get some runs early,” Springville head coach Jonathan Ford said after the win. “And not only to get them early, but to add runs in the second and then in fourth to continue to add some pressure. That eased us a little because we lost a 2-1 game the other night and we’ve lost a 3-1 game, so getting a couple of runs early gave us a little confidence there.”
Moody tied things up after a Caleb Jatko single that scored Nathan Kennedy, who ripped a double to get in scoring position for the Blue Devils. Jatko advance to third on a throwing error and then raced home after a Moody baserunner baited the Tigers into another unforced error. It was all tied up, 2-2 at the end of the second inning.
“For us, it’s just taking care of the little things,” Moody head coach Eamonn Kelly said. “We’re struggling with that right now, and that’s continuing to hurt us. We’re not doing the things right that we need to do on the base paths. We’re allowing things to snowball on us. Today we stopped it early, but those little things get you beat in the end. The little things matter.”
The Tigers had some issues in the field, dropping at least two pop-ups and committing a pair of throwing errors. But here’s where they shined: picking off runners at first. Springville pitcher Ethan Davis threw out two Moody runners who were late getting back to the bag.
Springville struck back when Zack Brown singled up the middle. The next hard-hit ball took a bad hop off the lip of the infield, and Brown advanced to third. He scored on a sacrifice bunt by Troy Bessiere to make it 3-2, Springville in the third.
From there, Davis cruised into the fifth inning. While he allowed baserunners in scoring position in both the fourth and fifth innings, Davis was able to induce ground balls — as well as a double-play ball — to end the Blue Devils’ scoring threat each time.
The Blue Devils ended up adding a run in the bottom of the seventh, but were unable to complete the rally as reliever Zach Brown struck out Kennedy looking at a curve ball to end the game.
