Selects vs. Smoke
Thursday, July 11, 2013
The Selects took an early lead against the Smoke on Thursday night, but couldn't hold on, losing 6-5 in the bottom of the seventh. It was the Smoke who struck first, however, when Jeff Clemens hit a leadoff single, moved into scoring position courtesy of the passed ball, and came in to score on a Rob Wood sacrifice fly, giving the Smoke a 1-0 advantage after one inning.
But the Selects were quick to respond. In the top of the second, Glen Hall doubled and scored on an RBI single by Scott Clark. After Reed Laughlin walked and Mike Brown beat out an infield single to load the bases with two out, Brad Cleasby singled in Clark and Laughlin, and Jamie Ridley followed with a triple to score Brown and Cleasby. Suddenly, the Selects had a 5-1 lead.
After cruising through the second and third innings, Shayne Riepert surrendered a leadoff home run to Wood in the bottom of the fourth. Still, the Selects held a 5-2 advantage entering the bottom of the sixth. That's when the Smoke's potent offense came alive. Wood continued his big night with a leadoff double and scored on Adam Vanwyck's KFL-leading seventh home run of the season, trimming the Selects' lead to 5-4. After a Todd Melchin double put the tying run in scoring position with nobody out, Clark came on in relief. He quickly tallied three outs without allowing a hit, but not before Melchin scored to knot the game at five.
The Selects, after stranding nine runners through the first six frames, went quietly in the top half of the seventh. Jeff Clemens was hit by a pitch to open the bottom half and promptly stole second. He moved to third on a Paul Clemens infield single and, when a pitch got to the fence during Wood's at bat, he scampered home for the 6-5 victory, leaving the Selects in stunned silence.
Hall (1-2, 2 BB, run), Cleasby (2-4, 2 RBI, run), Clark (2-4, RBI, run), and Ridley (2-4, 3B, 2 RBI) led a balanced Selects offense in the loss. The boys in green will look to rebound next week against the top two teams in their division, as they meet the Diamond Jaxx (8-1-2) Tuesday at 7 p.m. and the Phillies (9-3-1) Thursday at 9 p.m.
MVP: Glen Hall, 1B