PLYMOUTH — Having your first at-bat mid-game isn’t a super state of affairs for a baseball participant. Having that likelihood come within the backside of the seventh in a tie sport is much more tough.
Plymouth North senior Josh Bates was confronted with that precise state of affairs and he laced a line drive into left area to offer the Eagles a 6-5 victory over Patriot League rival Duxbury on Friday afternoon.
“I wasn’t really expecting to get up so quickly,” Bates stated. “Our four-hitter (George Slauson) is really good, but they walked him, and it was my turn. I’ve had a good season at the plate, and I was confident I could win it.”
Bates, who entered within the high half of the inning as a defensive substitute, could not have been as unfastened as somebody who had performed your entire sport, however Eagles coach Dwayne Follette knew his slugger was as much as the duty.
“For Bates to come into the game in that situation and get that hit is huge,” Follette stated. “He’s second on the team in hitting and I’m not surprised he came through for us.”
The victory tasted candy for the Eagles, however the state of affairs got here after the group blew a three-run lead in the course of the earlier two innings. The Dragons put two runs throughout the board within the opening inning, however 5 Eagle runs over the primary two innings put them in a good place late.
However, a mixture of walks and hits put the gritty Dragons again within the sport, they usually practically took a lead within the high of the seventh. A leadoff single from Anthony Rabeni was adopted by two outs, however back-to-back walks to Conner O’Connell and Nick Ayres loaded the bases. That’s when Eagles pitcher Cody Quinn reared again and induced a floor ball to himself to get Plymouth North out of the inning.
“When we walked Ayres with the bases loaded it put a lot of pressure on our pitcher,” Follette stated. “For him to get an out on a 4-3 ground ball, that was a big situation.”
The Eagles took this momentum and capitalized when Mark McKay hit an infield single. He reached second on a wild pitch earlier than advancing to 3rd on a profitable bunt from Connor McKenzie.
“Having my three-hitter get a bunt down in the bottom of the inning was huge,” Follette stated. “We haven’t played really good small ball all year, and that play put a lot of pressure on Duxbury.”
This led to the stroll of Slauson and eventual game-winning hit from Bates.
“Put the bat on the ball, anywhere it goes is what you need,” Bates stated. “I knew he was running on contact, so as long as I put the ball in play it was going to work out.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com