Triton falls to Glenn
JAMESTOWN � File this one under the �Baseball is a funny game� category.
Northern State Conference champion John Glenn held a commanding 9-0 lead over last year�s Class A state champion, Triton, after five innings in Class 2A Sectional 34 semifinal round play Thursday at Jimtown�s Booster Field.
Glenn starter Les Marcum was in control on the hill while Triton�s defense struggled to make routine plays. A 10-run rule game was just one Falcon hit from reality in the fifth.
Then the Trojans� bats came to life. Three runs in both the sixth and seventh chased Marcum from the mound with runners at first and second, two outs and a 10-6 seventh-frame Glenn lead. Ninth-place batter Jay Wagoner then coaxed a walk from reliever Jim Beasley to fill the bases with Trojans.
Triton leadoff man Braxton Barton, representing the tying run, worked the count full against Beasley before going down looking as Glenn held on for a nerve-wracking 10-6 win.
Glenn advances to Saturday�s championship game against host Jimtown � 7-6 winners over North Judson in the nightcap. Game time is 2 p.m.
�I was sweating a lot,� Glenn coach John Nadolny offered. �(Barton) hit a home run off of us earlier this year and he was one swing of the bat away from a tie game. (Beasley) threw a good pitch with a full count. Thank God we had enough runs.�
The Falcons piled up enough runs thanks to a generous Triton defense. A combination of booted grounders and wild tosses added up to eight costly Triton errors and six unearned runs. The Trojans, who outhit Glenn 13-8, were guilty of at least one error in every stanza except the sixth.
�(Errors) killed us,� Triton coach Ted Doty acknowledged. �If you make eight errors in a game, you are not going to win.
�I don�t think we were as aggressive as we could have been,� Doty added. �We stayed back and let the ball play us. The errors happen when you�re not being aggressive. It does get to be mental. Everyone�s thinking �don�t hit the ball to me� instead of thinking positive and being ready to make the next play.�
Andy Groves and Pat Crone laced back-to-back two-run singles to put Glenn up 7-0 in the fourth, and Korey Pulluaim added a run-scoring single in the seventh.
Other than those three run-producing hits, the rest of the Falcons� runs came courtesy of Triton mistakes.
�I didn�t like the way we swung the bat,� Nadolny explained. �I didn�t like our discipline. We took some weak swings on 2-0 pitches when we could have been working some deeper counts.
�We are a contact-hitting team,� Nadolny continued. �We were able to make enough contact to make Triton have to make plays. We put the pressure on them and they gave us quite a few breaks.�
Triton�s first error � a bad throw from short to the plate with the bases loaded in the first � brought home Glenn Stull and Greg Engel with the game�s initial tallies.
Crone reached on an error in the third, and two errors later, touched the dish for Glenn�s third run.
The Falcons scored two more unearned markers in the fifth inning to take a 9-0 lead. Glenn left the potential game-ending run on third.
�Give us credit for hitting the ball,� Nadolny said. �Give (Triton) credit for staying in there. It would have been easy for them to fold up their tents down 9-0. Triton scrapped their butts off.�
The Trojans made fighting off a premature finish a little easier with three two-out runs in the sixth. Kyle Bell�s RBI double scored Bryan Watkins, who had three hits. Daniel Kuhn followed with a single to knock in Brent Savill and Bell.
Triton made it extremely interesting in the top of the seventh. Matt Norman, the Trojans� lone senior, crushed a two-run double and Bell singled home another run to make it a 10-6 game.
�The guys didn�t give up,� Doty stated. �One of the things we�ve been emphasizing all year is mental toughness. It�s interesting with a young team to see how they�ll react to tough situations. We didn�t roll over and die. We were on the brink of the 10-run rule. We were able to come back and at least make it respectable.�
Linescores
Game One
Triton: 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 � 6 13 8
Glenn: 2 0 1 4 2 1 X � 10 8 2
T: Brent Savill (L), Braxton Barton (5) and Bryan Watkins. JG: Les Marcum (W, 8-0), Jim Beasley (7, Sv) and Will Groves.
2B: Kyle Bell (T), Matt Norman (T).
Game Two
North Judson: 0 0 3 0 1 0 2 � 6 9 1
Jimtown: 3 1 1 0 1 1 X � 7 12 3
NJ: Richie Hamm (L), John Matthes (2) and Pat Allen. J: Mike Zimmer, Zach Johnson (3, W), Jeremy Herring (6), Brock Bender (7, Sv) and Brandon Squibb.
2B: John Matthes (NJ), Russel Hochstedler (NJ), Eric Lewandowski (NJ), Jared Origer (NJ), Kyle Kinder (J).
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