Lennox Loses in Defensive Battle to McCook Central

Lennox Loses in Defensive Battle to McCook Central

On April 17^th, the Orioles hosted McCook Central in a Region 3 battle. The Orioles were still looking for their first win and they decided to let Braedon Wallenstein pitch. He was facing Senior Tim Gassman who was given the opportunity to start vs the Orioles.

In the top of the 1^st, Wallenstein got three ground outs and ended the inning quite easily. The Orioles didn’t score though as they were all struck out in the first on 13 pitches. In the top of the 2^nd, McCook would threaten with a single and two walks with two outs, however Wallenstein got a strikeout to retire the side. In the bottom of the 2^nd, Raysby reached on a walk and Sweeter reached on a single to center. Hood would lay down a sacrifice bunt and put runners on 2^nd and 3^rd with 1 out. Then Nick Kayl struck out swinging for out number two. Stein would reach on an error by the short stop and make it 1 to 0. Next, Devon Jongeling came through with a single to score Sweeter and make it 2 to 0 Lennox.

In the top of the 3^rd, three singles and two walks led to 3 McCook Central runs and a 3 to 2 lead. In the bottom of third, Oldenkamp reached on a dropped third strike and Leisinger walked. After Raysby’s strike out, Sweeter would fly out to short. A passed ball would score Oldenkamp and tie it up at 3 to 3. Hood came into pitch in the top of the fourth. After two walks and a sacrifice fly led to Garretson scoring another run to make it 4 to 3. Isaac Anderson the Senior of McCook came into pitch in the 4^th. A ground out, fly out, and a strike out would retire the side quite easily.

In the fifth, a walk, a single and a sacrifice fly led to another Garretson run and a 5 to 3 lead. In the sixth, Lackas would strike out along with Oldenkamp to make two outs. Leisinger would then work the count and hit a deep triple to right field. However, Van Ningen the senior of Lennox would strike out looking and end the inning. In the sixth, Hood gave up two walks but zero runs and the score remained 5 to 3. In the bottom half, Sweeter would hit a leadoff double to right center field. Hood would work the count and hit a grounder to second in which he advanced Sweeter to third. Kayl was looking for an RBI, but after working the at bat for 8 pitches, he struck out. In the top of the seventh, McCook would put a runner on but they couldn’t score. The Oriole’s Devon Jongeling would fly out to the first baseman Jesse Muth who made an over the shoulder catch while running. It was a very impressive play. Lackas would then hit a very hard ground ball to short and was retired at first on a very close play. Oldenkamp would work a 5 pitch at bat however, he would strike out and end the game.

Lennox took many great points from the game. They had zero errors and only allowed 5 runs and 5 hits. Tyler Leisinger had a triple and a walk, while Grant Sweeter had 2 hits a single and double. Devon Jongeling also had a RBI Single in the game. The Orioles proved that they could play quite well against a good team.