The Switzerland County Pacer varsity baseball team scored six runs in the top of the seventh inning to comeback and defeat Class 1A sixth-ranked Rising Sun by a final score of 12-10 last Friday night.
Rising Sun got things started with four runs in the bottom of the third off of Pacer hurler Zach Whitaker; but Switzerland County responded with three runs in the top of the fourth to keep things close.
The Shiners then picked up four more runs in the bottom of the fourth; and both teams plated two runs each in the fifth. The Pacers then scored a run in the top of the sixth to get within four runs at 10-6; and after reliever Matt Roland held the Shiner bats in check in the bottom of the sixth, the stage was set for the Pacer bats to come alive with six runs in the top of the final inning to take a two run lead; and Roland then shut the door, again keeping Rising Sun scoreless in the bottom of the seventh to earn the win.
Offensively, Switzerland County again showed balance, with Roland going 1-for-4 with a run scored and three RBI; and Casper Stow was 1-for-5 with a run scored and three RBI.
Dalton Roark had an outstanding game, going 3-for-4 at the plate with a run scored and two more knocked in; while Whitaker was 1-for-5 with two runs scored. Kyle Whitham had a double and scored a run; and Tyler Konkle was 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
Kollin Hayes scored a run; Caleb Furnish scored two runs and knocked in another; Austin South had a hit; and Justin Johnson also recorded an RBI. Justin Chatham scored two runs.
Whitaker went 3 1/3-innings, giving up eight earned runs and nine hits while striking out one; and South followed with an inning of work, allowing two hits and one earned run before Roland took over. The senior went 2 2/3-innings striking out two and not allowing a Shiner player to cross the plate.
The win keeps Switzerland County in the hunt for a conference title.
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On Monday night Switzerland County braved the wet weather to pick up a solid conference win over Milan by a score of 9-0.
Stow had a great game on the mound, pitching six innings and striking out six and allowing just two hits. Whitham finished up on the hill, pitching the final inning and allowing a hit.
Coach Chad Combs said that the tone of the game was set early, as Stow picked a Milan runner off of first base with two outs; and in the bottom of the first Roland laid down a squeeze bunt that resulted in two runs crossing the plate.
Overall the Pacers would score three runs in the first; and then add three more in the third; one in the fifth; and two more in the sixth.
Furnish led the way at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored, and he also added a stolen base. Roark was 3-for-3 with a double and three runs scored and two RBI; and Roland was 1-for-2 with three RBI.
Whitaker was 1-for-3 with two runs scored; Hayes knocked in two runs; while Stow, Justice Bledsoe, and Johnson each scored a run.