Bulldogs win three of four last week

The Harrisburg baseball team came into the second week of the season in the throws of a hitting slump and a three-game losing streak, but the hitting came around in the first two games and while the slump raised its ugly head again in a loss at Mt. Dew Park Owen Rann ended the week on a high note by tossing a one-hit gem two days later.

“We just played better,” said Harrisburg coach Jay Thompson. “After the loss, we played probably our best game of the year. We have played a killer schedule so far, and we talked as the coaching staff that if we could be 4-4 after our first eight games that would be very good. For these kids to have competed so well against the competition we play it says a lot about them.”

Harrisburg reversed its first week record of 1-3 to even the season at 4-4 and have three games scheduled this week starting Monday against Cathedral (0-0) from Indianapolis at Jay Thompson Field at 3:30 p.m. The week winds up Tuesday at Eldorado (2-3) and Friday at Mount Vernon (0-6).

The Bulldogs snapped the losing streak in style at “The Jay” with two big five-inning wins Tuesday against Vernon Hills and Wednesday against Hardin County.

Against Vernon Hills, Harrisburg banged out 13 hits to support a two-hit complete game from Brody Nyberg in an 11-1 win.

“We were desperate for a good game and we sure got one,” Thompson said. “It was really the first game that we swung the bats as a group. Nyberg just continues to improve.”

The game opened with Nyberg hitting the leadoff batter on the second pitch, but three pitches later the bases were empty on a double play started by freshman second baseman Dax Randolph. The inning ended four pitches later on a dropped swinging third strike that was thrown out at first.

In the bottom of the inning, Randolph led off with a single to left on a 0-2 pitch. Sophomore designated hitter Aidan Hankins joined him on base when he was hit on a 2-0 pitch. Randolph then stole third and scored on a wild pitch.

Hankins then advanced to third when Brendan Bergan reached on an error and Rider drew a walk to load the bases with one out bringing Rann to the plate. The first baseman smacked the first pitch to center field to score Hankins.

Harrisburg scored a run in the third and batted around in the fourth scoring five runs on five hits, including doubles by Maddux Smothers, Randolph and Reed Rider, to up the lead to 8-0.

The Cougars snapped Nyberg’s shutout bid in the top of the fifth with one out when the right-hander issued his only walk before giving up back-to-back singles to load the bases. The run scored on a ground ball to short.

The 10-run rule was triggered in the bottom of the fifth when Randolph and Hankins reached base on back-to-back one-out singles and Rider walked with two outs to load the bases. Rann hit a 3-1 pitch past the right fielder to clear the bases. Rann finished the game with five RBIs.

The next day the Bulldogs won, 13-0, with Harrisburg taking advantage of 13 pitching mishaps that included five walks, five batters hit by pitch and three wild pitches in addition to two fielding errors to go with just six hits.

“We were patient at the plate taking the walks and (being hit) and the wild pitches,” Thompson said.

Freshman Max Davidson got start on the mound and went the distance facing 17 batters allowing just three base runners on two hits and an error with one being erased on a double play. The right-hander struck out six throwing 65 pitches of which 44 were strikes and at one point retired seven in a row.

“It was Max’s first start of his career and he was very impressive,” Thompson said. “He gave up no walks. He’s an exceptional strike thrower and our kids love playing behind him.”

Hankins went 2-for-2 with two doubles and three RBIs and two runs scored. Xander Robinson drove in two runs. Felix Maynard came off the bench in the fourth inning replacing Brady Davis behind the plate and hit a double in the bottom of the fourth.

Wednesday at Mt. Dew Park Parker against Pleasant Plains Clarida was making his third start of the season after pitching four innings in his first against Vienna giving up no runs on three hits with 10 strikeouts and again four innings in his second against St. Anthony giving up no runs on two hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

Clarida (1-1) walked the leadoff batter, but he got a break when he was thrown out trying to steal second by Davis, but he was late covering first base on a ground ball to Rann allowing the runner to reach.

After Clarida walked the next batter on five pitches he was tagged for a double to chase the first run home and then gave up a bloop single to right to up the lead to 2-0.

Clarida settled down to pitch around a leadoff single in the second and the Bulldogs cut the lead in half in the bottom of the frame on a sacrifice fly by Robinson.

Clarida pitched around a one-out single in the third, but he gave up a run in the fourth on back-to-back leadoff singles and was chased in the fifth after the leadoff batter reached on a bobbled ground ball by the shortstop and the next three batters reached on back-to-back-to-back to score two more runs.

“Clarida didn’t have his best stuff, but he competed and kept us in the game,” Thompson said.

The senior right-hander was relieved by Smothers leaving runners at first and second and no outs. Smothers walked the first batter he faced to load the bases and then gave up back-to-back singles to score two more runs still leaving the bases loaded with no outs to up the lead to 7-1. Smothers retired the next three batters on four pitches to end the rally.

Harrisburg scored a run in the sixth on a leadoff double by Bergan and a one-out double by Rann. The Cardinals added a run in the seventh and the Bulldogs didn’t score in the bottom of the inning to lose 8-2.

“Plains swung the bat really well,” Thompson said. “We got behind early and we had a hard time getting them out. When we’ve had trouble our defense lets us down.”

The Bulldogs came back a day later to beat Du Quoin, 3-0, with Rann pitching around a two-out single in the first, a leadoff walk in the second, a one-out error in the third and the fourth innings and a hit batsman in the seventh.

“Du Quoin is really strong and Owen was just dynamite — he couldn’t have pitched any better, he was fantastic,” Thompson said.

The top four in the batting order was highly productive with eight hits in 15 at-bats, two RBIs and all three runs scored. Hankins batting second finished off his excellent week by going 3-for-4, including an RBI double in the sixth, to conclude his week’s work with a .615 batting average.

“Our top four guys had eight hits,” Thompson said. “Those four guys have been very good offensively so far. It was probably Hankins best game, but he’s hit every game.”

Bergan batting third drove in the game-winning run in the first inning on a one-out double following a leadoff single by Randolph. The senior finished with two hits in four at-bats and a run scored.

“Bergan has started to swing the bat — he looked very good all week,” Thompson said. ”

Randolph went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and batted .400 over the week with six hits in 15 at-bats and seven runs scored. If his 0-for-4 performance against Pleasant Plains was removed, Randolph batted .545.

“Randolph has done a great job for us from the leadoff spot,” Thompson said. “He’s a very an advanced freshman. He’s a pretty special player.”

Rider, who batted in the fourth spot, went 1-for-3 to finish the week with a .300 batting average with three hits in nine at-bats and reaching base four more times on four walks. The senior right fielder scored four runs.

“Reed is steady, he gets good swings every game,” Thompson said. “Rann (batting fifth) had a stretch where he was probably our best hitter. If we could get the bottom part of our order to come around I still think we could be a good offensive team.”