Chardon Hilltopper bats got off to a good start April 26 against WRC foe Riverside at Munson Township Park.
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Chardon Hilltopper bats got off to a good start April 26 against WRC foe Riverside at Munson Township Park.
While the Beavers had at least two baserunners in each of the first three innings, they could not score against the offerings of left-hander Brando Fatur, and Chardon broke out to a big 8-0 lead.
One bad inning, in the fourth, saw the Hilltopper defenders’ gloves turn to stone, allowing the Beavers to get back into the game.
But the gloves regrouped late to support the pitching of Mason Wolf, and Chardon claimed an 8-6 WRC win over their neighboring foes.
Chardon (11-6) had its bats working, with a trio of hitters recording three-hit days in an 11-hit attack. They were Will Francis from his leadoff spot, Jake Barker in the three hole, and Stone Fawcett in the six hole. Francis, Barker and Fawcett fueled a three-run first, four-run third, and single-run fourth, and Riverside had problems hitting Fatur’s pitches.
The game had been rescheduled from a different date, making the Hilltoppers visitors on their home field. Despite bright sunshine, it was a very cold, chilly Wednesday. Then, in the bottom of the fourth, it looked like the CHS gloves froze.
Riverside scored its first run with one out. A long fly ball was misplayed deep in centerfield, and Jake Miller singled to plate the first run.
After another fly ball out near the fence, two more errors were sandwiched between a pair of singles. Another error on the infield, followed by two walks — the latter with the bases loaded — ended the day for Fatur with his team still ahead, 8-6.
Thankfully Wolf induced a 3-2 liner to center for the third out, ending the threat.
Both teams had scoring chances after that, but could not get the big hit to score again.
“We didn’t make the plays today in that fourth inning, for sure,” Chardon Head Coach Brian Long said. “We had a tough time yesterday fielding the ball, too. We had six errors, and today we made five. You can’t do that and expect to win games, especially against teams like Riverside.
“We were fortunate to hit the ball well today and get a big lead. You’re not going to win too often if you’re giving teams 5-6 outs an inning, so we need to clean that up as the weather warms up.”
That’s a tall order in itself, but even frozen bats can be made to contact the ball.
Leadoff man Will Francis had singles in his first three at-bats, and drove home a pair in the big third frame.
Jake Barker had a trio of doubles, all three of them ringing the airways with a crisp sound of contact. The first two went to the left field fence, and after grounding out to second in his third at-bat, also a cannon shot of contact, he drilled an outside pitch from Connor Lingo, who had a solid outing in relief for the Beavers, and sent one deep down the right field line.
Stone Fawcett also had three hits in reaching base all four times he batted, one being a dropped fly ball in center. He also ripped a triple to drive home the final CHS run.
Barker and Heath Fetchik each scored twice. Fetchik was plunked twice in nearly the same area of his left backside, but this didn’t slow him down on the base paths.
Riverside had men on base in every inning, but did not get the big hit needed to score.
Mo Dolce and Dylan May each had a pair of hits in an eight-hit attack, but Fatur made pitches when he had to, and his defense made the plays. With Wolf on the mound, the same thing happened again after Chardon’s scary fourth frame.
