POLAND RETURNS THE FAVOR

POLAND, Ohio –

Less than 24 hours removed form a back-and-forth game that resulted in a Hubbard walk off victory in extra innings, the Eagles and the Poland Bulldogs were at it again.

Trading blows through regulation, the two teams were knotted at 7 at the conclusion of the 7thinning and in need of extra innings for the second time in as many days.

A four-pitch walk for Andrew Frank kicked off the 8th inning. Frank would then steal second as well as third, bringing his total to 6 on the day and grabbing a spot on the state’s all-time list tied for 7th for stolen bases in a single game.

The Bulldogs opted not to throw to senior Evan Jarvis, putting him on first instead. After a pop out by Jake Hettrick, the Eagles had runners on second and third with two away. Needing to deliver, Hayden Fox stepped up to the plate and cashed in with a 2 RBI double.

Needing to respond to the Eagles 2 runs in the top half of the inning, Poland promptly started theirtrip to the dish with a runner reaching thanks to an error, a common theme for the day as the Hubbard defense would tally 7 errors in the ballgame.

A pop out followed by a strikeout left the Bulldogs with 2 away and in danger of losing in extras for the second game in a row. Anthony Perry would head to the plate for Poland and deliver, hitting a triple to right field and brining a runner across to score. Still in need of a run to extend the game, Mason Planey would hit an infield single to bring across Perry and tie the game once again at 9.

Two innings of scoreless baseball would extend the game into the 11th inning. A 1-2-3 effort from Hubbard in the top of the inning left Poland witha chance to walk it off in the bottom half.

After a ground out to start the inning, the next 3 Poland batters would reach base safely. With just one away, Michael Nittoli would hit one in the air to right field. While Hubbard’s right fielder Ryan Murray was able to make the catch, he was too deep to cut the runner down at home, giving Poland a walk-off sacrifice fly victory, 10-9.

TOP PERFORMERS:

HUBBARD

Evan Jarvis – 3-for-5, 1 triple, 1 double, 3 RBIs, 3 runs scored

Andrew Frank – 0-for-2, 4 walks, 6 stolen bases, 4 runs scored

POLAND

Anthony Perry – 3-for-3, 1 triple, 1 double, 2 stolen bases, 1 RBI, 3 runs scored,

AJ Patellis – 3-for-5, 1 RBI, 2 runs scored

*Contributed By YSN’s Jamie Thomson