GREENVILLE – The Greenville Thunder 19U team used three 4-run innings to defeat the visiting Dayton Classics 12-6 in a Tuesday night game at Sater Heights Park.
“We maybe didn’t do everything we wanted to do, we really didn’t find the momentum,” said Greenville Thunder coach, Chad Henry. “We stuck it in the first inning, looked really good and then kind of went to sleep in the middle but then really poured it on at the end again.”
The Greenville squad took a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning taking advantage of a leadoff single to right off the bat of Zac Longfellow, a Tyler Beyke RBI single, a single to center off the bat of Grant Delk, a Tytan Grote RBI double to left followed by a two out 2-RBI Reed Hanes homer over the leftfield wall.
“It’s funny – Reed has that personality,” Henry said about the homer with a chuckle. “I don’t think anyone is going to bring it up the rest of the year but he’ll make sure he reminds everybody about it. He hit it really well.”
The Classics dented the board in the top of the third inning and added 4-runs in the top of the fourth to take a 5-4 lead with the Thunder coming to the plate in the bottom of the inning.
“We were kind of in and out,” Coach Henry said of the Thunder’s pitching. “Some guys are nasty but they’re not finding the zone. We have other guys that will find the zone. We’re getting there. Some of the guys not throwing all spring, their control is not as pin-point as they would like it to be but we are getting there.”
Logan Stastny led off the fourth with a double to right, Brody Williams reached first by way of a hit batsman and Longfellow loaded the bases with a one out single to center. A Beyke RBI single to center knotted the score at 5-5 and a Grant Delk 2-run single to right gave the Thunder a 7-5 advantage. A passed ball scoring Beyke had Greenville up 8-5 after four complete.
The visitors score a run in the top of the fifth to trail 8-5 only to have Greenville use the bottom of the sixth to put the game away with a Delk leadoff single to left, a 1-out single to left off the bat of Grote, a Hanes run scoring single to center and a 2-RBI Stastny triple to right. A ground out off the bat of Williams score Stastny for with the final run of the night giving the Greenville Thunder senior team the win.
“The bats were absolutely alive,” Henry noted. “We’re running the bases well and for the most part we are defending pretty well. It’s just – the pitching comes around we’re going to have a nice finished product.”
Williams was credited with the win for Greenville tossing one inning, allowing four runs on five hits and walking zero. Collins, Hanes and Alex Kolb all put in work in relief.
Delk’s 3-hits paced Greenville’s 15-hit attack, Delk, Grote, Hanes, Stastny, Longfellow and Beyke each accounted for 2-hits each. Williams and Alec Fletcher both added a hit in the win.
“The Classics always bring a good team to town,” Henry said. “They came out here, they stuck it and credit to them, they made us work.”
