Dark clouds circled Marcusen Park in Tuesday's regular season finale and that set an ominous tone for the Lyle/Austin Pacelli baseball team which incurred a 22-run loss.
While fans monitored the approaching weather system on their cellphones, the visiting Medford Tigers poured on the runs. Medford scored 10 runs in the top of the first inning.
The Lyle/Pacelli Athletics would avert the shutout, but the game was never competitive on the field. A nine-run fifth inning finally ended the carnage as Medford rolled to a 24-2 win.
Carter Guthmiller was the starting pitcher for the Athletics and took the loss. Although he walked six guys and was charged with 10 runs in that first inning, Guthmiller didn't get any help from his defense.
Lyle/Pacelli committed a total of nine errors in the non-conference loss. Many of those came in the first inning with only two of the runs counted as earned against Guthmiller in the big rally.
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"Carter has had some horrible luck in his outings of late, and we just haven't given him any defensive support," Lyle/Pacelli coach Reid Olson said. "We can't afford to give any team extra outs, because they'll make you pay.
"Right away we gave them four extra outs in the first inning, then walks and a couple of hits led to a large deficit. After that, we substituted and got a lot of guys in the game, but today wasn't a good day."
Kenneth Gray came on in relief of Guthmiller and retired the final batter in the top of the first. Gray pitched through the third inning and was charged with four more runs.
Matt Kasel next pitched one inning and gave up a run. Kyle Meyer finished on the hill for the Athletics and allowed the final nine runs.
Medford (8-9) got three solid innings on the mound from starting pitcher Kyle Clevenger, who picked up the win. Despite being down 15-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Athletics didn't quit and put a couple of runs on the scoreboard.
Stephen Juenger started the L/P scoring rally in the fourth by drawing a leadoff walk. Walks then followed to Sean Shapiro and Ryan McConnell, which loaded the bases for the Athletics with nobody out.
After a pitching change, the Tigers got the first out of the inning when Randy Klouse struck out. Kyle Meyer then hit into a fielder's choice and drove in the first run of the game for the Athletics as Juenger crossed the plate.
McConnell was out at second on the force play, so there were now runners at the corners with two outs. Drew Chapek kept the rally going with an RBI single and Shapiro scored the final run of the day for the home team.
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"That part was good to see and we'd like to get more energy on offense, but it's disheartening when we don't make plays on defense," Olson said. "We have to continue to compete and not give up. A loss like this is one of those difficult lessons you have to learn, and now we have to get ready for the post-season."
In the top of the fifth, the Athletics just couldn't get an out. There were multiple errors, hit batters, walks, and a lot of runs scored. The Tigers were finally retired and a quick bottom of the fifth sent the fans scurrying for shelter as the rain came down.
Lyle/Pacelli finished the regular season with a 3-10 record and next awaits the seedings for the upcoming Class A, Section One, West Subsection tournament
NON-CONFERENCE
Medford 24, Lyle/Pacelli 2
Medford ....... (10)04 19 — 24 13 1
Lyle/Pacelli ..... 000 20 — 2 2 9
Medford:WP: Kyle Clevenger 3 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 H, 3 BB, 4 K. RP: Cole Kavitz 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 4 K.
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Lyle/Pacelli:Stephen Juenger 0-for-2, walk, run; Skylar Meyer 1-for-3; Shawn Shapiro 0-for-1, walk, run; Kyle Meyer 0-for-2, RBI; Drew Chapek 1-for-3, RBI. LP: Carter Guthmiller 2/3 IP, 10 R, 2 ER, 2 H, 6 BB, 0 K.
