Seymour Eagles Soar to Victory Over Austin-East 16-5

It was a beautiful night for baseball at Don Doyle Field on the campus of Seymour High School. The Eagles faced off against the Austin-East Roadrunners and secured a 16-5 victory in a run-ruled, shortened 5-inning contest to extend their current winning streak to 7 games.

"Really it just comes down to pitching, the two games we lost to Northview & Watertown we walked a lot of people. If you can get your pitchers just throwing strikes and letting your defense work and eliminate walks, you'll win ballgames." remarked coach Kyle Koeneman on their current 7 game winning streak.

Junior Zac Wood would get the start for the Eagles, where he made quick work of the Roadrunners in the top of the first retiring all three Roadrunner batters on strikeouts with a total of 13 pitches.

Seymour's half of the first inning was a productive one, with the Eagles senior leaders producing early and often. Elijah Miller led the game off for the Eagles with a walk, on the second pitch of the next at bat he stole second, to move into scoring position.

Braylon Williams recorded the first Seymour out, as he struck out swinging. Reece Wilson hit a line drive on the first pitch of his at-bat into left field, that resulted in Miller plating the first run for the Eagles.

Corbin Johnson worked a 4 pitch walk and stole 2nd base on the next pitch. Wood came up to the plate next and was hit by a pitch to give Seymour, bases loaded with only one out in the opening frame. Tayfur Caldwell took the third pitch of the at-bat into deep left field to score Wilson from third on the sacrifice fly to make it 2-0 Eagles. Johnson would advance to third, Zeke Brown who was pinch running for the pitcher Wood, was held at first on the throw.

The Eagles then went to work with 2 outs in the inning plating 8 more runs. Brown stole second base before Caden Rhoades lifted a ball into right field to score Johnson and Brown. Mason Brown drew a walk, during the at bat, pinch runner Wyatt Galyon stole 2nd and advanced to third on a Roadrunners wild pitch.

Brown stole second base on the second pitch of the following at bat to give Seymour runners on 2nd & 3rd. Austin Brown then took a 2-2 count pitch deep over the centerfield wall for this first homerun on the season and the Eagles had stormed ahead 7-0.

Miller came to the plate for his second at-bat of the inning and singled on a ball hit to the shortstop, beating the throw to first. He immediately stole 2nd and Seymour had a runner in scoring position yet again.

Williams then took a 1-1 pitch into the left field gap for an RBI triple to make the score 8-0 Eagles. Reece Wilson once again took the first pitch of his following at-bat in right field on a hard hit line drive, that plated Williams.

Wilson stole 3rd, before scoring on a wild pitch on the next at bat making the score 10-0 Seymour, before Johnson walked for his second straight plate appearance. He then stole second and took third on a wild pitch before Wood grounded out to the Austin-East first baseman.

Wood worked another quick 1,2,3 inning, recording three more strikeouts on 14 more pitches. Heading into the bottom of the 2nd inning the score was Seymour 10, Austin-East 0.

Caldwell drew a walk to open up the home half of the second inning and Rhodes singled on a hard line drive to left field and advanced Caldwell to 2nd. Freshman Andrew May entered the game as a pinch runner for Rhodes before M. Brown would strike out for the first out of the half inning.

The Eagles would get runners in scoring position on a Roadrunners wild pitch, as both Caldwell & May would advance 90 feet, A. Brown walked and the bases were once again full of Eagles.

Duke Delozier entered as a pinch-hitter, he would work a 4 pitch walk that plated Caldwell and leave the bases still loaded. Williams recorded the second out of the inning on a fly ball to right field, the Eagles however, could not advance the runners.

Andrew Hammontree entered the game as a replacement for Wilson and he proceeded to take the first pitch of his at-bat into right field, where it would drop for an 2 RBI single as May and Brown scored while Delozier advanced to third.

Johnson would be removed from the game in favor of Galyon, who had previously pinch ran earlier in the game. Galyon would reach base after being hit by a pitch on a 3-1 count. Grayson Davis would enter the game and hit a deep fly ball into left field where the Austin-East outfielder made a terrific catch to rob him of a base hit.

The Roadrunners were once again retired in order on three consecutive strikeouts by Wood. Heading into the bottom half of the 3rd inning, Seymour led AE 13-0.

Seymour would be held scoreless in their half of the 3rd inning of play, despite singles from Z, Brown & substitute batter Kolton Hallcox to leave the score at 13-0.

The Roadrunners would show their fight in the fourth as they plated 4 runs, following a walk, and a pair of singles to make the score 13-4 heading into the bottom half of the fourth. The Eagles would call on Hammontree to pitch during the inning in replacement of Wood.

Pinch hitter Dannen LaVella walked to open up the fourth inning for the Eagles, and he drew a walk to start the frame. Williams would re-enter to run for Lavella and steal second base soon after. Hammontree drove a ball into deep center field for a RBI triple that scored Williams from 2nd.

Galyon walked, stole 2nd and later scored on a hard-hit single from Wood into left field, that also plated Hammontree to make it 16-4 Eagles. May recorded the first out of the inning on a ground out to the shortstop. Wood advanced to 2nd on the fielders choice.

Brooks Berry grounded out to shortstop and Z. Brown was punched out at first after the dropped third strike to end the threat and inning for the Eagles.

Austin-East's lead-off man would reach after an error on a pop fly by Wood at 3rd. Seymour would record the first out on a fielder's choice to Hammontree at pitcher, who threw to Caldwell at second to get the lead runner.

Hammontree recorded the second out of the inning on a 5 pitch strikeout, during the at-bat AE would steal second to get a runner into scoring position.

The Roadrunners would get their final run of the game after an error by Berry at catcher allowed a man to advance to third, then score on the same error before Hammontree would end the game two pitches later.

"Really just a lot of base-running, a lot of those guys are going to be doing some base-running for us, getting reads on bags, having those young guys in there getting reads on bags is going to be huge for us down the road.", said Coach Koeneman on how his young players performed this afternoon and what they could take from their playing time.

Wood would go 3.1 innings, allowing 4 R, 1 H, 3 BB, and striking out 10. Hammontree went 1.2 innings in relief allowing 1 R, on 1 H,0 BB, while striking out 4 Roadrunner batters.

Seymour was led at the plate by Austin Brown going 1-1 with a 3-R HR. Hammontree also chipped in a 2-2 day with a triple, & 3 RBI's of his own. Senior Reece Wilson would end the day 2-2, with a double, triple and 2 RBI's.

"It can give them a world of confidence, just being up there, being patient, get your pitch to hit and when you start seeing yourself hit a barrel, your confidence goes through the roof and the more barrels you hit, the more confidence you'll get."

With the victory, Seymour improves to 10-3 on the season. They will visit Austin-East on Tuesday at 6:00 PM."