Home Talent: Poynette comeback at Black Earth falls short

Davy Tomlinson has seen a lot in his years in Home Talent League baseball.

A crazy 18-17 slugfest at Black Earth on Monday, May 27, will be one of the most memorable for the Indians’ coach.

“That was one of the weirdest, wildest games that I’ve ever been a part of,” said Tomlinson. “Just when you thought we were going to end on a 10-run rule, we came back and almost pulled it off. It’s fun when everybody in the line-up contributes offensively. It’s great to be around a bunch of guys who play hard to the end. You just never know what could happen.”

Trailing 11-0, Poynette plated four runs in the fourth, as Jake Keller ripped an RBI double and Joel Thimsen smacked a two-run two-bagger. Black Earth added a run in its half of the inning.

Down 12-4 going into the top of the fifth, Poynette staged a furious rally, scoring runs to knot things up. Poynette sent 13 batters to the plate, with Dacota Potter stroking a two-run single and Korey Ryan hitting a two-run double.

That is until Black Earth pulled back ahead with a run in the fifth, before erupting for five more in the bottom of the sixth. Poynette again wouldn’t go down easy, scoring five runs of their own in the top of the seventh on three straight RBI singles, but Black Earth stopped the bleeding with the bases loaded.

Ian Nowell was saddled with the loss, going one and two-thirds innings and allowing four earned runs on six hits. Nowell did go 2-for-4 at the plate, as did Keller. Riley Radewan finished the day going 2-for-5, while Carson Frost went 2-for-3. Ryan scored three runs, had a double and drove in two. Potter scored three runs, as Poynette had 10 different players score runs with an RBI. Nine different Poynette players had hits.

Poynette is now 3-3 overall, with a 1-1 league record, an 0-1 mark in Night League play and a 2-1 record in exhibition play. The Indians travel to Middleton on Thursday, before returning home to host Cottage Grove on Sunday at 1 p.m.