JAY- There was nothing pretty about Friday’s baseball game at Jay.
The game featured eight errors by the home team, three batters hit by pitches, 10 walks and two dropped third strikes, allowing the batters to reach first.
Even the ending was ugly, as Jay took advantage of five bases on balls in the bottom of the seventh to “rally” for two runs and walk off with a 10-9 win over the Lisbon Greyhounds.
“I’ll take an ugly W’ instead of an ugly loss any day,” said Jay coach Chris Bessey.
The Tigers (6-4) trailed 9-8 entering their final at bat.
Joel Ouellette led off the bottom of the seventh by walking on four straight balls from relief pitcher Mike Wilkins (1-2). Ouellette would steal second and move to third after free passes to Ryan DiPompo and Justin Wells.
Steve Nelson followed with a grounder to short for the first out, with Ouellette scoring on the play. Lisbon coach Randy Ridley then decided to walk catcher Ryan Bourassa, who had homered in both of his two previous at bats. After DiPompo was cut down at the plate on an infield grounder, Mike Nemi watched four consecutive balls go by to bring in the winning run.
“Mikey’s our best strike pitcher,” said Ridley. “Walks have killed us this year. That’s been our Achilles’ heel.”
Jay appeared to be in command of the game after two innings. Jake Farrington got the Tigers rolling by leading off the first with a home run to left.
DiPompo (4-2) had struck our four of the first seven batters and had a 4-0 lead heading into the top of the third. It was then, however, that the paint began peeling off the barn. Over the next two innings, the Greyhounds (3-8) would capitalize on five Tiger errors, to plate nine runs and knock DiPompo from the hill.
The bottom of the order triggered both the three-run third and the six-run fourth. Number eight hitter Max Hathaway walked to start the third and moved to second on an infield bleeder by Jacob Sprinkle. After the pair pulled off a double steal, they both scored on a single to left-center by Devan Knight. Knight would later score on an error.
The fourth inning was even worse for the Tigers.
“It was a long inning,” said Bessey. “The longest one of the year for us.”
Levi Ervin began the inning by chopping an infield hit in front of Harrington at third. Hathaway then struck out, but reached first when the ball got by Bourassa. Sprinkle followed with a walk. All three of the players making up the bottom third of Lisbon’s order scored in the inning.
Jason Hayes brought one run in on a single to left. Later in the inning, Wilkins looped a single down the right-field line just out of the reach of rightfielder Zane Armandi and Mason Levers followed with a similar shot for a double. Both hits plated a runner.
The nine runs were scored without the benefit of one hard-hit ball.
“We’ve had to learn how to manufacture runs,” said Ridley. “We’re a good hitting team, not a great one.”
Farrington pitched the Tigers out of further damage in the fourth and went three scoreless innings before DiPompo returned to the mound for the seventh.
Jay would chip away at the five-run deficit with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Bourassa delivered the big blow of the inning by golfing a low fastball from starting pitcher Payton Austin over the center field fence for a two-run homer. On the next pitch, Bourassa would see was another fastball.
This time it was Wilkins serving up the gopher ball to left.
“I haven’t been hitting the ball too well this year,” said Bourassa. “I saw two pitches and I hit them. I was really surprised.”
Bourassa’s second homer was basically a one-handed swing as he tried not to get too far out in front of the pitch.
“I was a little over-anxious,” said Bourassa. “I actually missed first and had to go back and touch it.”
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