GREENVILLE – A short-handed Greenville Post 140 Legion baseball team lost 16-0 to Sidney Post 217 on Tuesday evening at Greenville’s Sater Park.
Sidney pitcher Josh Nixon, a University of Dayton commit from Minster, was dominate as he struck out 14 batters in a complete game effort. In seven innings on the mound he gave up just two hits, one walk and one hit batter. With Sidney turning a double play and Versailles product Kyle Subler throwing out a pair of base runners, Nixon only faced one batter over the minimum.
“We weren’t seeing the ball well, and they were,” Greenville manager Thomas Martinez said. “It’s just how it works. Their pitcher, electric stuff. Get ahead of you with two strikes, throw that curveball and make you look stupid.”
Sidney, which had 18 hits in the game, scored two runs in the first inning with RBI singles by Nixon and Versailles graduate Brett McEldowney.
Sidney added to its lead in the second with a RBI single by Austin McLain, a sacrifice fly by Drew Wehrman and a two-RBI single by Nixon to make it a 6-0 game.
Greenville’s first base runner of the game came in the bottom of the second when Dom Huffman drew a two-out walk, but he was thrown out by Subler as he tried to steal second.
In the third inning Sidney added two more runs with RBI singles by McLain and Wehrman for an 8-0 advantage.
Greenville notched its first hit in the third inning with an infield single by Tyler Netzley, but he too was thrown out by Subler while trying to steal second.
Sidney continued to add to its lead in the fourth with McEldowney driving in Nixon with a RBI single.
Sidney added two more runs in the fifth inning when Wehrman scored on a Greenville throwing error and Subler scored on a fielding error, making the score 11-0.
In the bottom half of the inning Huffman reached base for a second time when he was hit by a pitch. He then became the first Greenville runner to successfully steal a base but was stranded at second.
Greenville held Sidney scoreless in the sixth inning but then gave up five runs in the seventh. Nixon scored on a Greenville error – the team’s fifth of the game – then Kyle Noble hit a sacrifice grounder to bring in another run and increase the lead to 13-0.
Carter Mescher drove in two with a single and McLain drove in the game’s final run with a single to make the score 16-0.
Greenville’s second hit of the game came in the bottom of the seventh on an infield single by Billy Lanman. However, he was erased from the base paths with a 6-4-3 double play, and Nixon recorded a game-ending strikeout to make it a 16-0 final score.
“I’ve got a lot of injuries right now,” Martinez said. “I’ve got guys who are gone. I mean I literally started this game with nine players. I had to put a pitcher in right field. My expectations for today’s game weren’t as high, but these guys play better than that.”
Greenville fell to 2-3 in league play with the loss to Sidney but still has a chance to move up to second in the league before the regional tournament begins with a win against Troy on Friday.
“It’s the highest we’ve been seeded so I’m really not too disappointed,” Martinez said.
