The REPORTER
The Hamilton Southeastern baseball team went 2-2 last week during play at the Warrior Classic in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
The Royals dropped a tough first game last Friday, falling to Henry County 5-4 on a walkoff score. Southeastern scored its first run in the top of the first inning: Maddux Bach led off with a double, moved to third base on an error, then stole home on a wild pitch. The Royals added a second run in the second inning when Tyler Noel scored on an error.
Henry County scored one run each in the third and fourth innings to tie the game. Southeastern regained the lead in the sixth inning when Noel singled in Kam Seitz, then Bach blasted a seventh-inning triple to score Evan Haas. Henry County came back to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh, then won on an RBI sacrifice fly.
Ethan Lund pitched five innings, striking out nine while allowing only three hits.
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The Royals rebounded in their second Friday game, beating Perkins 14-6. The Pirates scored two runs in the top of the first inning, but HSE responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning, both on bases-loaded walks. Bach got home when Alex Billman drew ball four, then Noel tied the game after Colin Goley walked.
Perkins led 5-2 going into the bottom of the fifth before Southeastern put up nine runs in that inning, all with two outs. Luke Sivak singled in Haas and Jake Payne, then Goley tied the game by stealing home plate and Sivak scored on an error to put HSE in the lead.
The Royals weren’t done yet. Bach’s left field hit brought in Drew LaFleur, then Bach worked around the bases and scored. Michael Hoog cracked a triple to score Seitz and Noel, then Hoog later scored to give HSE an 11-2 lead.
In the sixth inning, Goley scored on a passed ball, then Seitz hit a pop-fly single to send Bach and LaFleur home. Bach and Goley both finished the game with three hits, while Seitz had two hits. Dylan Cope threw six strikeouts in four innings, and Nate McGrath got the win in relief, tossing five strikeouts in three innings.
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Southeastern continued play with two games last Saturday. First, the Royals took care of Mason 11-2.
The Comets got on the board first with a second-inning run, but HSE jumped ahead with two runs in the bottom of the second. Hoog scored on a wild pitch and Haas got home when LaFleur was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Mason tied the game with a run in the fourth inning. It was all Royals after that, as they put up four runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Goley scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice bunt by LaFleur. Payne later got home on a wild pitch, then Hoog’s center field hit brought in Seitz and Bach.
Hoog and Seitz both had two hits, with LaFleur, Hoog and Seitz all driving in two runs. Josh Lesniewski got the win, tossing six strikeouts while allowing four hits and one walk. Hoog then pitched two innings of no-hit ball to finish the game.
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Southeastern finished its trip with a 5-3 loss to Blackman.
The Blaze scored their first run in the bottom of the first inning. The Royals scored twice in the top of the fifth to take the lead: Goley led off with a single, Sivak singled to move Goley to third, and both were sent home by Parker O’Steen’s right field single.
Blackman scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to reclaim the lead and held on to win. Southeastern got a run back in the seventh when Nolan Colbert scored on Bach’s RBI fielder’s choice.
Hoog hit a double in the sixth inning. Payne pitched five innings, striking out six.
The Royals are 3-2. Southeastern was to host Brownsburg on Wednesday to begin its Hoosier Crossroads Conference season, but the game was postponed due to weather. The Royals are scheduled to play at Brownsburg this afternoon, weather permitting.