The Switzerland County varsity baseball team opened up its season on Monday night against Owen County, Kentucky, and fell by a score of 7-2.
The game was scoreless until the fifth inning when Owen County went on a hitting spree, scoring five runs before the Pacer defense could get out of the inning. Owen County then scored two more runs in the top of the sixth after the Pacers failed to score in their half of the fifth.
The Pacers began the final inning with Zach Jenkins drawing a walk. Danny Shira then singled, and an error moved the runners up to second and third. Brandon Otter then connected on a single that plated both runners, but those would be the only runs of the game for Switzerland County as they fell by a 7-2 count.
“Not a bad opening effort,” Pacer coach Shannon Barger said. “We had too many strikeouts with 13, and five errors are way too many to win. We had five guys making their first varsity start and it showed. We also were facing a pitcher that signed with Eastern Kentucky.”
The Pacer coach also had praise for junior hurler Ryan Peters.
“Ryan Peters threw a terrific game until he began to tire,” the coach said. “We are going to struggle early because of our youth, but we should be able to compete at a much higher level by sectional time.”
The team will return to action tomorrow (Friday) at home against Jac-Cen-Del, with the game starting at 5 p.m. The Pacers will also be playing at home on Saturday against Lawrenceburg, with a starting time of 11 a.m.