SHAC pitcher’s duel goes to the Greyhounds

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

It was a crucial Monday night Southern Hills Athletic Conference baseball match up as the Manchester Greyhounds, who are in the midst of a tight race in the conference’s small school division, hosted the Fairfield Lions. Both teams came into the game with just two losses in conference play, with the winner taking over the first place spot, at least for a night or two.

The day belonged to the pitchers, Fairfield’s Gabe Fouch and Manchester’s Luke Applegate, who combined to allow just two earned runs, both pitching complete games and combining to strike out 20 hitters while giving up just nine hits. For Fouch , it was an outstanding performance coming off some arm troubles while for Applegate, it was “his best performance of the season” in the words of Manchester head coach Sean Inman as the sophomore right hander picked up his fourth win of the spring and lowered his earned run average to 2.25, pitching the Hounds to a clutch 2-1 conference victory.

The Greyhounds got Applegate all the runs he needed in the bottom of the second inning. Leland Horner, Parker Hayslip and Clayton Colvin came through with back-to-back-to-back singles to load the bases with no outs. After Fouch got Carson Inman and Malaki Bayless swinging, Greyhounds’ center fielder Drew Kennedy poked a two-out, two-run double to left field to give his team the 2-0 advantage.

Fairfield got one of those back in the top of the third when a run came home on a passed ball, but that was it as Applegate slammed the door from that point forward, aided by his defense flashing some leather on a number of fine defensive plays. In the top of the seventh, Applegate got the Lions in order, the final out coming on a comebacker to the mound that clinched the Hounds’ 12th win of the spring and 10th in a row.

The win put the Hounds into first place with just two conference losses, just ahead of Fairfield and Whiteoak, who both have lost three SHAC games. The Hounds will have to step up big time to stay on top as they face a gauntlet of games coming up with Whiteoak, Eastern Brown and Lynchburg, which should go a long way in deciding the 2024 small school champion.

Fairfield

001 000 0 —1

Manchester

020 000 x —2

Fairfield Hitting (AB-R-H-RBI): Miller 2-0-1-0, Fouch 3-0-0-0, Matthews 3-0-1-0, C. Willey 3-0-0-0, Frost 3-0-0-0, W. Willey 3-0-0-0, Chandler 3-0-0-0, Fauber 3-0-0-0, Bennington 0-0-0-0, Campbell 3-1-1-0, Team 26-1-3-0.

Manchester Hitting (AB-R-H-RBI): Kennedy 2-0-1-2, Hilderbrand 3-0-0-0, Applegate 3-0-1-0, Barnhart 3-0-0-0, Horner 3-1-1-0, Hayslip 3-1-1-0, Colvin 3-0-1-0, Inman 2-0-1-0, Rickett 0-0-0-0, Bayless 2-0-0-0, Team 24-2-6-2.

Extra-Base Hits: Kennedy 2B

Fairfield Pitching:

Fouch (L) 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 12 K, 98 pitches

Manchester Pitching:

Applegate (W) 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 91 pitches