For the second straight season, the Rising Sun baseball team came up empty in the section final. Patterson Mill lefty Jeff Noss hurled a shutout to lead the Huskies to a 3-0 triumph over the host Tigers Wednesday afternoon. The Huskies scored all three of the game's runs in the top of the sixth. Leadoff hitter Kyle Goudy singled through the hole, stole second, and then stole third when Rising Sun failed to cover the bag after the batter squared to bunt. Matt Sprouse singled to center to make it 1-0 and Billy Benson singled up the middle. Noah Juergens came in to relieve starter Brennan Martz. The runners advanced on a ground out to first and Juergens recorded a strikeout. But Brett Michaels delivered a two-run single to center to lengthen the lead to 3-0.
Aaron Richardson had a one-out single in the home half of the sixth but Noss got the next batter to ground into a double play. In the bottom of the seventh, Zach Van Dyke fell behind in the count, spoiled a couple pitches with foul balls to right, and then smacked a single to left. Cole Benjamin followed with a single to left. "Two seniors stepped up," Rising Sun coach Clyde Van Dyke said of the start to the bottom of the seventh. "They've done it all year. Zach's down 0-2, 1-2, whatever it was, and gets us started. Cole comes up and hits the ball hard. Those two carried us all year either with the glove, on the mound, or at the bat." But with the potential tying run at the plate, Doss fanned the next two hitters and ended the game by retiring the final batter on a popup. That wasn't the Tigers' only threat. Rising Sun rued missed opportunities in both the first and second innings. Both times, the leadoff hitter reached base. Both times a runner was picked off first. "Killed us," said Clyde Van Dyke. "Killed us. We got the leadoff man on [in the] first and second inning. [Noss] doesn't have a great move. The kids were just anxious. I told them before the game started we were going to be aggressive. But it's bunt and run. You've got to give the hitter time to bunt the ball before you take off. You can't take off before the guy even throws the baseball. They were momentum changers right there. If we keep executing and we score a run there, things turn out different." Patterson Mill loaded the bases with one out in the top of the third before Martz got a force at the plate after fielding a comebacker and retired the next hitter on a fly ball to center. Rising Sun got rhe leadoff batter on base again to start the third, but he was stranded there. Then both Noss and Martz pitched two perfect innings until Patterson Mill got on the board in the sixth. The Tigers, co-Chesapeake Division champions with Fallston, finished the year 15-5. Rising Sun was 31-8 over the last two seasons, but was blanked in the section final two straight times. "Painful," Van Dyke said. "Painful. These kids give you all they've got all year long. They do what you ask. They execute to the best of their ability. And every year … My first year here we won the division and [Patterson Mill] beats us because our ace runs out of gas. The last two years, we don't hit and Fallston beats us. This year, we throw our ace against Fallston and get the job done there. [Patterson Mill] gets their ace against our two or three. The cards just never seem to align for us." Missing two starters, Elkton lost 3-0 to Patterson Mill the day before. Van Dyke noted things could have worked out far differently if the Elks had prevailed. "we're facing Elkton with their second or third [pitcher] cause [Chris] Roosevelt pitches against [Patterson Mill]," he said. "Painful is all I can say. (Assistant coach) Rick (Marcus) and I would give our right arm and left leg to be playing for a region championship but for some reason it wasn't meant to be." Comments are closed.
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