Selects vs. Jaxx
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
The Selects lost a heartbreaker Wednesday night, 8-2 to the Diamond Jaxx, in a game that was much closer than the final score would indicate.
After two scoreless frames, the script seemed set for a pitcher's duel between Kevin Buckley and Scott Clark, who each allowed just one hit in the early going. In the top of the third, the Jaxx struck first when Jordan Emick delivered a two-run single, cashing Byron Dinsmore and Will Pierce, but Clark induced a pair of weak grounders and a strikeout from the heart of the Jaxx order to escape the jam. They added one more in the fourth when Pierce ripped an RBI single to extend the lead to 3-0. It was all they'd get until the final frame.
Meanwhile, Clark broke Buckley's shutout when he singled and scored on a two-out double by Shayne Riepert in the bottom of the fourth. The Selects cut the deficit to 3-2 in the sixth when Brad Cleasby singled and scored on a Darren Strickland triple, putting the tying run at third with no outs. But Buckley bore down, inducing a weak pop to short and striking out a pair to preserve the lead.
And then the wheels fell off. The Jaxx scored five more in the seventh, compounded by a pair of errors, for the eventual 8-2 win. Clark was the hard-luck loser despite arguably his best outing of the season, the victim of costly defensive miscues and a barrage of weakly hit infield singles.
MVP: Darren Strickland, 3B/2B