BELOIT—The Beloit Turner baseball team’s dominating performance on Tuesday evening just proved what head coach Jeff Clowes already knew: his ball players can hit it, pitch it and field it.
The Trojans did all three practically perfectly at a breezy YMCA Youth Sports Complex as it blew past Rock Valley Rock foe Big Foot 14-0 in five innings.
“It was nice to put a whole game together,” Clowes said. “There's been some flashes against really good teams of great things, but we just hadn't put it all together. It was fun to see all three phases of the game come together tonight.”
The Trojans sit at a modest 5-4 record (3-2 in conference play) with Tuesday’s win. But the squad graduated 12 seniors last season and returned just one varsity starter. So, the first nine games of this season have been a lot about learning the ropes and adjusting to the higher level of play.
“The younger guys that came up to varsity this year have really stepped up,” said senior Hayden Frey, who was mostly in a bench role last season. “At first we might start off slow because the varsity pace and JV pace is a lot different. But man, they adapted really quickly. They're just hitting the ball really well.”
Jayden Piccione got the bats going after he started the game with a leadoff triple over center fielder Carson Buccholz’s head before he quickly scored on a wild pitch.
“JP always sets the tone,” Frey said. “He’s got great energy, and he was hustling around the bases out there. He’s a really hard worker and a great leader.”
Brayden Ward smacked a two-out triple to center in the same inning to score Brody Berg, who had reached on an error, before Cesar Alfaro made it 3-0 with his double.
The Trojans upped it to 6-0 in the first after a pair of hits by pitches and a walk, all with the bases loaded.
In the second, Fernando Tillery started with a double and scored on one of the Chiefs’ three errors. Frey later blasted a two-run single to up it to 9-0.
“I felt really good at the plate today,” Frey said. “Just felt relaxed. I've kind of struggled at the plate, but I'm starting to feel a lot more confident and better up there.”
Berg drew a bases-loaded walk and Frey scored on Andy Buckley’s sacrifice fly to center to make it 11-0 after two. Adriel Salazar had a RBI single, Berg a RBI triple and Buckley a RBI double in the fourth to increase Turner’s lead to 14-0.
“Any of our 14,” said Clowes, referring to the number of players he has. “Sometimes we're mixing the lineup around because there's better matchups. Some guys are a little bit better with higher velocity, some hit the breaking ball a little bit better. This is one of the better hitting teams I've had, period. They're just giving what pitchers take to them and trusting that the guy behind him is going to get the job done.”
Turner outhit Big Foot 10-2, drew six walks and reached base three times via HBP. Ward and Frey led the way with two hits apiece.
Meanwhile, Andy Buckley and Jayden Mosley got it done from the mound. Buckley allowed just two hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in 3 1-3 winnings before Mosley came on in relief and finished the final 1 2-3 innings with just a walk and four punchouts.
“Andy threw really well for his second outing,” Clowes said. “He changed speeds well, found a ton of strikes — he just puts a lot of pressure on teams. Jayden came in and did a great job mixing. He's just been getting better and better on the mound.”
The Chiefs got back-to-back singles from Owen Smith and Evan Henningfeld to start the third before Buckley got two strikeouts and a ground ball to third.
Big Foot head coach Justin Bell said he loved seeing the hot bats from the eight and nine hitters there, but he emphasized that his squad needs to improve on its plate appearances.
“We didn’t hit the ball well enough,” Bell said. “We looked at too many strikes and got too deep in counts. Defensively, there's a couple plays we need to clean up and shorten the innings a bit to save our pitchers’ arms.”
The Chiefs fall to 4-6 overall and 2-5 in conference play, but they have had some encouraging wins such as a sweep of Whitewater (10-0, 13-1) and a 5-3 battle with a strong Brodhead/Juda squad.
“We've already talked about not being defined by this game and getting ready for Thursday,” Bell continued. “We get to play (Turner) at our place, and we're going to show them our best baseball. It's going to be a much closer game.”
• LINESCORE:
BELOIT TURNER 14, BIG FOOT 0
BF;000;00;—;0;2;3
BT;650;3;—;14;9;0
Leading hitters: BF, Smith 1x1, Henningfeld 1x2. BT, Piccione 1x1, 1 Run, 1 RBI; Alfaro 1x1, 1 Run, 1 RBI; Berg 1x2, 2 Runs, 2 RBI; Buckley 1x4, 2 RBI; Tillery 1x4, 1 Run; Ward 2x3, 1 Run, 1 RBI; Ries 0x2, 2 Runs, Alfaro 1x2, 2 Runs, 1 RBI; Jacobson 0x1, 2 Runs; Frey 2x2, 2 Runs, 2 RBI.
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): BF, Weeks 1.0-3-6-1-3-2, Smith 1.0-2-5-3-3-0, Glos 1.0-1-0-0-0-0, B. Wojcik 1.0-4-3-3-0. BT, Buckley 3.1-2-0-0-2-7, Mosley 1.2-0-0-0-1-4.
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