Defense preserves Eagles’ one-run win

In high scoring contests, it’s not often that coaches compliment their defense. But after the Eagles defeated the Ligers 18-17 at Youth Sports Inc. in Parks and Recreation Recreation baseball action, Eagles coach Jarrod Smith gave kudos to his team’s play in the field.

“I think the key to our victory was limiting the five-run innings the other team had,” Smith said.

When all was said and done, the Ligers had two five-run innings to the Eagles’ three, nevertheless, both teams fought for their runs from start to finish.

The Ligers didn’t waste any time putting runs on the board. With Lane Crumet and Jacob Johnson on base, Justin Lewis brought them home with a triple before the Eagles retired the side to give the Ligers the early lead.

The Eagles showcased their power potential in the first with a pair of solo home runs. Leadoff hitter Adam Eudaly tagged the first one and Jackson Dwyer had the second, three batters later. A double by Sam Clark drove in Jack Clark for the Eagles’ third and final run of the first inning.

Liger Justin Lewis swings away in the top of the third as his Ligers took on the Eagles at Youth Sports Inc. Lewis singled in the at-bat, helping the Ligers post three runs in the inning.

Eight Liger hitters came to the plate in the second inning and recorded only one out on their way to the reaching the five-run maximum. The Ligers’ final three runs of the inning came after consecutive hits by Brent Cahwee, Austin Klevenstein and Crumet.

The Eagles answered the Ligers’ rally, run for run, in their half of the second inning which would be their first of three straight five-run innings.

The Eagles’ five-run second was highlighted by four straight singles in the middle of the inning that netted three runs. The Eagles sent eight batters to the plate the next inning and didn’t record a single out. A Dwyer single knocked in the fifth run of the inning. The Eagles finished the fourth inning in the same fashion they scored their first run of the game, with a three-run homer from Logan Smith, who knocked base runners Vinnie Barker and Lucas Mackey in to end the inning. The string of big innings gave the Eagles 18 runs, but the Ligers did their best to keep pace.

Down one run after two innings, the Ligers put up three runs in the third inning, but a crucial double play ended the inning prematurely. Kiefer Stellwagon’s single drove in Trystan Meyer for the Ligers’ third run of the inning, but he was thrown out trying to advance to second after a fielder’s choice at second base.

The stingy Eagles’ defense halted another Liger rally in the fourth. The first three Liger batters of the inning reached on singles, but the Eagles surrendered only two runs in the inning. The third out of the inning came when the Eagles gunned down a Liger base runner trying to advance from second to third.

Although the Ligers headed into the final inning down six runs, they didn’t go down without a fight. Logan Shields put an exclamation point on the five-run inning with a three-run home run that also plated Meyer and Andrew Ornburn.

According to coach Smith, he expected his team to play solid defense coming into the game.

“We’ve been spending a lot of time in practice just working on defense to prevent big innings,” Smith said. “If you can do that, you win.”