For the good part of five innings, the Tyrone Legion had the upper hand in a pitching duel against Barkman Oil, but as the game entered its final innings, Tyrone’s lack of pitching depth reared its ugly head in a 10-1 loss.
Tyler Golden had struck out eight during four shutout innings, and Tyler Hoover singled Golden home in the top of the fifth inning to give the Legion a 1-0 lead.
Golden, who had struck out the side in his first appearance only two days prior to Saturday’s game, had lost some of his velocity and control when he came out for the bottom of the fifth inning. Nate Dick worked a leadoff walk, but Tyrone Legion catcher Brock Anders erased him with a perfect throw to second on an attempted steal.
After a weak ground out, it appeared that Golden would escape the inning unscathed, but a Caleb Johnson double followed by a walk to Josh Greenleaf set up Nate Detwiler’s RBI single to tie the game.
Detwiler, who went 4-4 and went the distance while striking out 11 on the mound for Barkman Oil, was heading toward second a play later on a Tyler Nash grounder when Tyrone Legion second baseman Jesse Hertzler applied the tag on him. However, the ball slipped from Hertzler’s glove and Greenleaf scored the go-ahead run from second.
Though the error aided Barkman Oil’s go-ahead inning, Tyrone Legion Manager Mike Boytim felt like the rally was a result of something that happened an inning earlier.
“In the fourth inning Tyler walked the leadoff guy on a close pitch, and the next two guys got weakly hit singles to load the bases,” Boytim said. “To Tyler’s credit he overcame that and struck out the side to escape that jam unscathed, but I think that took a lot out of him.”
The Tyrone Legion was able to capture their lead with a two-out rally in the top of the fifth inning. Golden drew a walk and went to second on a Jamie Levinson single before Hoover’s line drive to left field scored Golden.
Trailing 2-1, the Tyrone Legion threatened to tie the game in the top of the sixth inning when Donnie Conrad walked with one out and moved to second on a wild pitch, but Detwiler struck out the next two Legion hitters.
Trying to keep his team in the game, Golden struck out Ryan Blough to begin the sixth inning, but four straight batters reached following Blough, and Barkman Oil posted an eight-spot to break the game open.
“Tyler was obviously tired, but because Jamie pitched into the seventh inning Thursday, he wasn’t available, and we had no other players at the game with any pitching experience,” Boytim said. “It’s unfortunate that people will read the final score of this game in the newspaper and believe that we struggled on the mound, but to tell you the truth, through the first four innings when he had his stamina, Tyler pitched as good as anyone in this league will all year.”
The Tyrone Legion made three errors in the game after making five in their first one, a 7-6 win against Juniata VFW.
“Everyone is going to make an error here and there, but we have to learn not to let the other team force us into making bad choices which lead to errors, and we have to make sure we are 100 percent into the game both physically and mentally, especially if we are going to compete against a team like ReMax, who we play Tuesday.”
That contest against ReMax Realty will begin Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Harry K. Sickler Athletic Complex in Tyrone.
Sprankle’s Auto Outlet Notes: Tyrone worked seven walks Saturday after working eight against Juniata VFW, and as a result, despite a .259 team average after two games, the Legion has a .437 on base percentage… Levinson leads the team with a .500 batting average (4-8)… Hoover has already walked four times to build up a .625 on base percentage, highest among regulars.
Barkman Oil 10 Tyrone Legion 1
TYRONE LEGION – Schopp, cf, 4-0-0; Golden, p, 3-1-2; Levinson, ss, 3-0-2; Hoover, 1b, 3-0-1; Hertzler, 2b, 3-0-0; Anders, c, 2-0-0; D. Conrad, rf, 2-0-0; T. Conrad, lf, 2-0-0; Rodland, ph, 1-0-0; Oswalt, 3b, 1-0-0; Emigh, ph, 1-0-0. TOTALS 25-1-5.
BARKMAN OIL – Dick, 2b, 3-1-0; Snowberger, ss, 3-1-2; Johnson, c, 3-1-1; A. Blough, cr, 0-1-0; Greenleaf, lf, 2-1-0; Detwiler, p, 4-0-4; Hardy, cr, 0-1-0; Nash, 1b, 4-1-1; Stiffey, cf, 3-1-0; R. Blough; 4-1-0; Brumbaugh, dh, 3-0-1; Ewart, 3b, 1-1-1. TOTALS 30-10-10.
Tyrone Legion 000 010 0 1-5-3
Barkman Oil 000 028 X 10-10-1
2B: Johnson
RBI: Hoover, Snowberger 2, Detwiler 2. Ewart 2. Stiffey.
SO: Golden 11, Detwiler 11.
BB: Golden 6, Detwiler 7.
WP: Detwiler LP: Golden.
