Baseball: Pumas fend off Marshall

It was a rollercoaster week for the Poynette baseball team, highlighted by a 5-4 win over Marshall on Thursday, May 9.

“Today, we played one of our better all-around games,” said Pumas’ head coach Davy Tomlinson. “It was a good team win, as a lot of people had a hand in the win. Hunter Webster threw another good game, and Ashton Meister was able to close it out. Chase Maier had a great day at the plate with a couple hits and two RBI.”

Poynette (4-11 overall, 1-5 in Capitol North Conference) grabbed a 3-0 lead in the second inning, as Marshall cut the deficit to 3-2 in the third and tied it in the top of the fifth. But the Pumas plated a run in the bottom of the fifth and tacked on another in the sixth to go up by two runs. Marshall scored a run in the seventh but couldn’t score the equalizer.

Brett Hackbart was 1-for-3, with a double and a run scored. Chase Hansen and Hunter Webster also went 1-for-3, while Meister was 1-for-2.

Striking out five and walking three, Webster surrendered three runs on eight hits and got the win.

Portage 11, Poynette 1Held to three hits, the Pumas couldn’t get much going offensively, while Portage jumped all over Poynette.

“Portage really came out and hit the ball well,” said Tomlinson. “We played well defensively with only one error, and we’re doing better at cutting down our strikeouts.”

Hansen, Meister and Alex Busch had hits for the Pumas, with Meister doubling and driving in a run.

Wyatt Breuch, Busch and Maier pitched for Poynette, combining for eight strikeouts.

Belleville 11, Poynette 5A make-up game from a rainout in April, the non-conference affair ended in a Puma loss.

“The game started off with both teams playing very well, and it was a scoreless tie after two innings,” said Tomlinson. “However, things went south in the third when Belleville scored eight. However, we did answer right back with five in the bottom half of the inning. One of the big hits was a 2-run double by Brett Hackbart. Unfortunately, that’s as close as we would get.”

Hackbart went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored. Hansen, Meister, Busch, Hunter Wells, Maier and Webster all had hits for Poynette, as Busch drove in two runs. Webster also had an RBI.

Wells took the loss on the mound. Maier tossed a scoreless inning, and Busch also pitched.