By HUNTER O. LYLE
ELDRED, PA – For four innings, the Terrors and Gators were deadlocked.
Hit-for-hit, run-for-run, the Otto-Eldred and Port Allegany baseball teams were locked in a war of attrition with no clear end in sight. However, running into a recurring weakness, an implosion in the fifth sank the Terrors’ hopes of an upset, ultimately presenting them with a 18-7 defeat on their home field.
“We’re just not playing a full game,” said Otto-Eldred head coach Lance Baker, whose team has lost their three previous games by a combined five runs. “That’s kind of been us. The games we’ve lost this year, it’s just been one inning that has hurt us. We have to find some way to try to prevent that.”
Port was quick to break the ice. Having amassed a flawless record and an 89-18 margin of victory largely by way of early aggression, their gameplan once again paid off as the Gators made the most of Kellen Veilleux’s lead-off single. Stealing to second and subsequently third, Veilleux wasted no time clearing the final 90 feet for the first run of the day with a sacrifice shot from Gavin Moses.
Retiring Port immediately after, the Terrors then showed a similar lack of hesitancy from their own dugout. Loading the bases through their first four batters, Wyatt Blendinger put O-E in front with a single past shortstop, collecting the Terrors’ first hit of the day and two runs along the way. Jack Sherry padded their new-found lead, driving in Ryan Schenfield with a sacrifice grounder that put O-E up 3-1.
From there, the barrage of back-and-forth runs began. The Gators responded during their next trip to the plate, pulling ahead 4-3 with an RBI-single from Veilleux and a two-run line drive from Chase Boyd, only to watch the Terrors retake a two-run lead in the bottom of the frame with RBIs from Michael Sheeler and Ryan Schenfield.
“The last three, four, five game stretch, I’ve been happy with what we’ve done (at the plate.) We’ve definitely gotten better,” said Baker. “We’re putting more balls in play, we’re being more aggressive on the bases, we’re making good things happen offensively. We’re putting runs on the board and giving ourselves a chance to win games.”
However, after narrowing the deficit to just one throughout the third, Port finally shut the valve off. Stunting the Terrors with two strikeouts from Veilleux on the mound and a pickle between second and third, Port’s bats put them ahead once again. With one man on, Boyd rocketed a shot down the third base line to re-tie the game. One out later, Garrin Wright repeated the feat, drilling a shot into right field for an RBI-double, forcing the lead to swap hands for the fourth time of the afternoon.
Although O-E’s one-frame dry spell ended in the bottom of the same inning, albeit, scoring just one run off of a bases-loaded walk, the worm was about to turn for the Blue and Gold.
The stumbles started early. Leading off the top of the fifth, Port’s Brennan Fillhart reached first on a botched fielding of a grounder in the infield. The Gators then gave Fillhart company on the baseline with a walk, before Nick Wilfong put them up 8-7 with an RBI-single. However, then the self-inflicted wounds began to pile up.
Over the next two batters, Port tallied three more runs off a pair of overthrows and a baulk with men in the corners. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases before a third drove in run No. 12. A single from Fillhart, scored another before, with two outs, Wilfong cracked a double to the right field wall, clearing the bases for three more RBIs. With deflation and desperation looming, O-E struggled to tie on a tourniquet, letting in two more runs before the end of the inning.
“I have to give props to Grady (VanCamp, who pitched the final three frames.) He hasn’t thrown a ton of innings and came in to face one of the best lineups in the league. He threw strikes and that’s all I ask of my pitchers,” said Baker. “We just didn’t back him up. We let a few balls drop that should have been caught and probably should have been out of the inning having given up one run max. The wheels just kind of fell off.”
Looking up at an 11-run deficit, the hope had vanished and the Terrors went down quietly, being retired with three final strikeouts.
Boyd led Port with a team-high three hits on five trips to the batters’ box, producing two runs scored and two more batted in while Wilfong came away with a game-high five RBIs and three runs on a 2-for-3 afternoon. Veilleux went 2-for-3 as well, scoring four times, while Wright finished 2-for-5 with two runs and one RBI.
For O-E, Sheeler ended 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI, followed by Schenfield’s 1-for-1 day at the plate and three RBIs.
While the Gators improve to 8-0, matching last season’s undefeated opening, the Terrors sit at the other side of the spectrum. Sitting at 1-9 overall, they look to pick up the pieces and head back to the drawing board sooner rather than later.
“We’re getting better. I know we’re getting better. We’re young,” said Baker. “We’re getting better, our young guys are improving and we just have to find a way to win some games. We’re there, we’re putting ourselves in position. We just need to get over that hump.”
AT ELDRED
Port Allegany 131 2(11) R:18 H:12 E:0
Otto-Eldred 330 10 R:7 H:4 E:5
Port Allegany: Hawver (0 SO, 5 BB), Veilleux (2) (8 SO, 2 BB) and Boyd
Otto-Eldred: Schenfield (1 SO, 2 BB), VanCamp (3) (1 SO, 6 BB) and Splain
