BENTON - It's not everyday you see a team with only two hits in a game beat a team with eight hits, but that's exactly what happened last Friday at Benton Park as the Rangers utilized smart base running and good fundamentals to manufacture a 5-3 victory over the Carmi Bulldogs.
Derek Oxford got off to a hot start by hitting a lead-off single in the first inning. Oxford then stole second base, and later came around to score the game's first run off a sacrifice fly from Bryden Pickleshimer. The big story in the game for Benton was base running. The Rangers stole four bases, with swipes from Oxford, Hamilton Page, Tyson Houghland, and Oliver Davis, with both Oxford and Davis scoring runs..
After Benton scored the first four runs to go up 4-0, Carmi battled back and scored its' first run in the third when Justice Stubblefield drove in Easton Stewart, and scored again in the fourth with Drew Lucas knocking in Tyler Barbre to make it 4-2. Stewart would make it around again in the seventh to score the Bulldogs' final run of the game.
Benton’s half of the seventh inning started with a lead-off walk to Logan Threlkeld, in which Nick Goffinet came in to pinch-run. Getting a really good read on a pitch in the dirt, Goffinet stole second, and then Pickleshimer hit a hard groundout to get him to third. Cole Richardson then hit a sacrifice fly to bring in a final insurance run.
Carmi went through three pitchers in the game including Barbre, Tucker Gray, and Zach Vaught. Combined, they recorded just one strikeout, but allowed only the two hits. In a major setback for Carmi, their pitchers handed out walks to five Benton batters. Batting wise, Carmi quadrupled Benton with eight total hits. Easton, Vaught, and Barbre all had two hits. Benton's two hits were from shots from Oxford and Tyson Houghland, neither being an RBI knock. Of Benton's five runs, only two of them were batted in, with RBIs from Cole Richardson and Pickleshimer.
The game's starter Levi Pearce and reliever Threlkeld both had impressive outings on the mound. Pearce pitched four innings throwing 54 pitches, 16 balls, and 37 strikes. Threlkeld pitched three innings, 61 pitches, 32 strikes and 29 balls. Pearce, who was credited the win, had only one earned run, while Threlkeld, who was given the save, had the other two. Each of them recorded five strikeouts. Threlkeld was also called out once for a balk, and offensively was walked three times, and came around to score two runs, making up for the two he gave up on the mound.
"Today was not an easy day to hit. The ball didn't carry very well. The wind was blowing a little cold, and the air was damp, and Carmi's a good ball club, so we'll take a win over them any day," said Benton coach Brett Blondi after the game.
"I thought we executed offensively a couple times. Manufacturing those runs is good, and I'm happy about that, but I'd really like to see us hit with running in scoring position, and get some big innings."
Blondi added, "I thought that we ran the bases well. We put the ball in play by not striking out very often. We made plays defensively. I thought Levi and Logan both did really good jobs pitching, and Caleb Rock did a good job behind the plate. I was happy with our defense, but would just like to get rolling offensively."
This win improves the Rangers record to 4-2. Earlier in the day, the JV Rangers trounced their Carmi counterparts with a dominating 10-0 victory.
