GIRARD EMPHATICALLY SWEEPS THE DRAGONS
By Matt Maher
GIRARD, OH – The Indians showed up in a big way on Tuesday evening when they played division rival Niles at home. Dom Talone threw 5 good innings for Girard on his way to an earned win against the Red Dragons with his team scoring 10 and Niles only putting 4 past him.
As mentioned Talone got the nod for the Indians and had some trouble at the start when he gave up a leadoff walk to Kristopher Hrosar. Hrosar would come around to score when Landon Turner grounded into a fielder’s choice that could have been a double play if not for Kaiden Clare’s throw to first going out of reach for Nate Freelnad.
The Red Dragons went in order in the 2nd with Talone earning his 4th and 5th Ks of the night. Niles would strike back with 2 more runs in the 3rd thanks to a RBI double from AJ Yost and a sac fly to center from the bat of Turner. Talone would sit the Dragons down 1-2-3 in the 4th, give up the 4th run in the 5th to a Brixton Gilmour RBI single and would retire the Red Dragons in order in the 6th to end his night. Tyler Wilson would relieve Talone for the 7th where he showed complete control over the Dragons, striking out a pair on the way to the win.
Talone finished with 6.0 IP, 4 R, 5 H and 9 Ks while Wilson finished with 1.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H and 2 Ks.
On the other side it was Kristopher Hrosar who would throw a complete game for Niles. The Indians would get to him early after a leadoff walk from Will Haynes and later a sac fly from Zach Ward. Hrosar retired the side on 3 batters in the 2nd earning his 1st K of the night but would falter in the 3rd where Girard put up 4 runs to take the lead. The Inning started with Joe Marco being hit by a pitch and the dominoes started to fall from there with Haynes digging out a RBI triple (the Indians first hit) immediately after, Ward earning an RBI bunt single, Clare driving in a run with a single and Dom Phillips getting one more in off of a fielder’s choice.
The Indians would get another run in the 4th thanks to yet another RBI from Haynes, this time a single up the middle. Hrosar would gain some control in the 5th with no runs allowed and no hits to accompany. The Indians would take total control in the 6th after another leadoff walk, this time to Marsco, and Haynes bringing him home once more with an RBI double. A fielding error would allow Haynes to score next and eventually Dom Phillips would drive in the next 2 off of a hard and far hit single.
Despite the score, Hrosar looked very calm and confident on the mound all game and threw a lot of very nice pitches. Hrosar finished with 7 IP, 10 R 7 H and 3 Ks.
This game marked the end of the regular season series between these two division foes and both teams look onward as Niles (3-11, 1-9) will head out to Chaney on May 1st at 5PM while the Indians (9-10, 5-5) will travel to Springfield on May 2nd at 5PM.
