The Switzerland County varsity baseball team continues to roll through its season, winning some key conference games during the past week while preparing for Sectional play.
– Last Friday night the Pacers defeated Rising Sun by a score of 10-0.
Ryan Peters had an outstanding night on the mound, going seven innings and striking out seven while allowing only one walk.
Offensively, sophomore Travis Tackett collected two hits.
“Ryan threw great and we made plays behind him,” coach Shannon Barger said. “Offensively, we did all of our damage in one inning. We need to do a better job of attacking early in the game.”
– On Saturday, the Pacers hosted Austin for a doubleheader. The Eagles came into the contest ranked number two in the state, and in the opening game, Austin defeated the Pacers by a score of 12-0.
“We came out and looked intimidated,” Coach Barger said.
In the shutout, Danny Schira had a double to lead a weak offensive attack.
In the second game, Austin defeated Switzerland County by a score of 5-4.
Although the Pacers still fell to the Eagles, the offense did have a bit more spark, as Zach Osowski had two hits including a double and three RBI.
Brandon Otter also had two hits and scored two runs.
On the mound, Luke May went five innings and gave up five earned runs and three walks; Brandon Otter pitched one inning and had three strikeouts; and Zach Osowski pitched an inning, recording one strikeout and giving up two walks.
“In the second game we played like we belonged,” the Pacer coach said. “We were a couple of plays from the win. Our defense was outstanding. Hopefully this is a springboard for the rest of the season.”
– On Monday night the Pacer split a doubleheader with conference foe Jac-Cen-Del.
In the first game, the Eagles prevailed by a score of 14-1. Danny Schira’s double was the lone bright spot in the Pacer offense.
The second game saw Switzerland County rebound to claim a 6-4 win.
Brandon Otter doubled in the first inning, and then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Danny Schira. Zach Osowski then connected on a sacrifice fly to plate Brandon Otter.
The second Pacer run scored in the third inning, as Danny Schira walked and then stole second. He then moved to third on a groundout, and scored on a wild pitch.
The fifth inning saw some offensive fireworks, as Zach Osowski connected on a solo homerun to provide the third run of the game for the Pacers.
Down 4-3 in the seventh inning, Tyler Johnson singled and then moved to second on a groundout. Brandon Otter then reached base on an error, scoring Tyler Johnson. Brandon Otter then stole second and scored what proved to be the winning run on a double by Zach Osowski. He then scored the final run of the game on a single by Ryan Peters.
Zach Osowski also had a stellar game on the pitcher’s mound, going six innings and allowing three earned runs. He had three strikeouts and allowed three walks to up his record to 7-0 on the season.
Ryan Peters pitched a perfect seventh inning in relief, and also had three hits on the night.