North downs East to win third-straight

An explosive first inning set the tone for Foothills North in a June 19 game against Foothills East.

The visiting East squad was the first on the scoreboard, but its lead didn’t last a full inning as North piled on six first-inning runs. The Greyhounds held East scoreless for the remainder of the game while piling on four more runs themselves.

The 10-1 victory gave North its third-straight win. North has won six of its last eight games after starting the season 0-4.

North posted nine total hits in Wednesday’s game, with the first three batters in the lineup each recording two: Beau Carson, Kinley Stanley and Garrett Senter. The trio combined to hit one triple, three doubles and two singles. Brooks Robertson, Ben Branch and Nick Burnett had one hit each for North.

Carson, Stanley and Burnett finished with two RBIs each, while Senter, Robertson and Ashton Seal each had one.

Lincoln Lawson, JB Davis and Asher Dawson each had one hit for the visitors, with Davis hitting the team’s only RBI.

Elijah Johnson earned the win on the mound for North. Johnson pitched six innings and recorded four strikeouts, five bases on balls, one hit by pitch, and allowed one run on three hits. Burnett threw the game’s final inning, during which time he recorded one strikeout.

East took advantage of North’s only fielding error of the night to score in the top of the first inning.

Leadoff Zach Keener made it all the way to second base on North’s error. Keener tagged up and advanced to third when Lawson flied out, then Davis hit a ground ball that brought Keener back to the plate.

Davis Seivers would join JB Davis on base soon after by being walked. The visitors appeared primed to strike again with only one out on the board, but the inning abruptly ended when North catcher Senter picked Davis off at second just before Brian Cave flied out.

North recorded four of its six extra-base hits in the bottom of the first inning. The first of these hits came from Carson as the leadoff batter, then Stanley scored Carson by bouncing a hit over the left-field fence for a double of his own. Senter reached first on an error, then Robertson joined the doubles club to score Stanley and move Senter to third. Kyler Simmons joined Stanley and Senter on base after his pop fly was dropped.

East temporarily fended off loaded bases by catching a pop fly for the inning’s first out. However, the next fly ball — one hit to center field by Burnett — got lost in the sun to allow two more runs. A fielding error on a ground ball hit by Seal brought in run No. 5, then Carson hit a fielder’s choice that allowed Burnett to make it 6-1.

North loaded the bases once again in the bottom of the second inning when Robertson reached first on an error and both Senter and Burnett were walked. East got out of the sticky situation when Davis ran down a fly ball at the edge of the outfield to end the inning. However, East couldn’t convert on offense and only put two runners on base across the second and third innings.

North continued to put pressure on East by putting its first two batters on base in the bottom of the third. Branch was faced with a full count when he sent a ground ball up the middle of the diamond, then Branch stole second and third before Carson was walked. Carson took off for second base before Davis could throw his first pitch to Stanley. The pitcher ran toward Carson, and when he turned his back to Branch the North baserunner dashed to the plate. Davis quickly turned and threw to Seivers to make the tag at home plate.

Just when East looked like it had some defensive momentum on its side, Stanley hammered his second double of the game to score Carson. Stanley went to third on a wild pitch, then scored on a single hit by Senter to make it 8-1.

East picked up its second hit of the game in the top of the fourth inning. Cave was walked as the leadoff batter, then he was moved to second when Dawson hit a bloop single to center field. Bases were loaded when Ethan Wilson was hit by a pitch. East only had one out on the scoreboard with runners on every bag, but North turned a 6-4-3 double play to keep its big lead alive.

Keener took over pitching duties for East in the fourth and used a pair of strikeouts to prevent North from putting a runner on base. The visitors once again had a chance to cut into the lead after building some momentum on defense, but a fifth-inning single from Lawson would be the team’s only hit for the remainder of the evening.

North capped off its fourth double-digit scoring output of the season with two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Leadoff batter Branch was walked before stealing both second and third base, then Carson sent a hit down the right-field line to score Branch. East attempted to throw Carson out going to third, but the throw missed the mark and allowed Carson to score his team’s 10th run.

Pitching

FH East

Brian Cave — 2 IP, 1K, 2 BB, 0 HBP, 4H, 6R

JB Davis — 1 IP, 0K, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 3H, 2R

Zach Keener — 3 IP, 3K, 2 BB, 0 HBP, 2H, 2R

FH North

Elijah Johnson — 6 IP, 4K, 5 BB, 1 HBP, 3H, 1R

Nick Burnett — 1 IP, 1K, 0 BB, 0 HBP, 0H, 0R

Scoring

FH East — 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 — 1

FH North —6, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, X — 10