Watch: Gerek Theriault talks about clutch hit in Lisbon’s baseball win over Hall-Dale

LISBON — A good coaching move can go awry when an opposing player steps up to the plate and to the moment.

Lisbon was the benefactor of such a situation in its 3-1 victory over Hall-Dale in an MVC baseball contest Saturday.

The Greyhounds (5-3) entered the bottom of the fifth inning down 1-0. With two outs and Cody Osmond at the plate, Lisbon executed a double steal, putting Jimmy Fitzsimmons, who singled to get on base, and Keeghan Morrissette, who reached on a fielder’s choice, in scoring position.

Hall-Dale (3-3) coach Kyle Bishop decided to intentionally walk Osmond, which loaded the bases. In the next at-bat, Gerek Theriault made the Bulldogs pay with a bases-clearing double that put the Greyhounds up 3-1.

“That’s just baseball,” Lisbon coach Randy Ridley said. “It was a great coaching move to intentionally walk my No. 3 batter Cody to get to my No. 4. It worked out for us with Gerek stepping up huge.”

Theriault went to the plate ready to take a big swing.

“I knew the curveball was coming,” Theriault said. “I just sat back on it and took it for a ride.”

Ridley said Theriault’s hitting has come around and the past few games he has been hitting the ball hard.

Bishop was trying to help his defense with his decision to walk Osmond.

“They had second and third with two outs and we wanted a force at any base, so we put him on,” Bishop said. “We were trying to make it easier on our defense, and (Theriault) stepped up and smoked it.”

Hall-Dale’s starting pitcher, freshman Noah Longfellow, got Lisbon’s JT Hoyle to fly out to end the threat with Theriault still on second base.

Longfellow went all six innings, striking out six and allowing three hits.

“For a freshman, coming down here to play a program like these guys, to throw strikes like he did and battle, I couldn’t be prouder,” Bishop said. “We are really looking forward to seeing him progress the rest of the season and in the future. He’s got a lot of potential and we are happy to have him.”

The Bulldogs had a two-out rally in the top of the sixth when Nick Brown singled and Keegan Cary walked. Hall-Dale executed a double steal to move both runners into scoring position, but the threat ended when Fitzsimmons, Lisbon’s starting pitcher, got Logan Norton to ground out.

“It felt good, very stressful,” Fitzsimmons said of getting into a jam. “The heart got going a little bit, but, hey, it’s fun to get out of those.”

Unlike Theriault’s clutch at-bat, the Bulldogs didn’t muster a big hit when they needed it.

“For us, you aren’t going to win too many games with (four) hits,” Bishop said. “We needed a hit like he had when we had guys on. We didn’t get that and they did — that’s baseball. It was a good high school baseball game.”

Lincoln Matthews relieved Fitzsimmons in the seventh and only allowed a base hit by Breton Lucas.

Hall-Dale scored its run in the top of the fourth when Brown and Cary each got into scoring position through a double steal. Brown scored when Norton grounded out to the shortstop.

Ridley was pleased with how Fitzsimmons got out of the game.

“He only allowed that one run,” Ridley said, “and early in the situation, he stayed focused, threw strikes and trusted his defense behind him. That’s what I loved the most — you got to learn to trust each other, build on each other.”

Fitzsimmons pitched six innings, striking out three batters and allowing three hits.

“That slider was feeling great today,” Fitzsimmons said.

Fitzsimmons finished the game below the 95-pitch limit, which means he needs only three days rest before pitching again (throwing 96-110 pitches requires four days of rest). He should be available to pitch when the Greyhounds host Dirigo (0-5) on Wednesday. They also play at Madison (2-4) on Monday.