Baseball’s first win no April Fool; both teams split

 

BY MARCUS CLEM  |  HOMETOWN GIRARD

Girard just barely missed out on a baseball sweep on March 31 against Fort Scott, while the softball team put up a dominant performance in Game 1 before the Tigers solved them handily in Game 2.

The baseball doubleheader saw scores of 3-2 and 5-8; Fort Scott put up 8 runs in both games against Trojan softball, but held Girard to only four in Game 2. Baseball played at Dave Regan Stadium at the state-of-the-art LaRoche Baseball Complex in Fort Scott. The softball games took place at fields managed by Fort Scott Community College.

Quentin Ausemus put up a rockstar performance in Game 1 with frequent support down the baselines by Tanner Stout. Extra-base hits blessed Garrett Barnaby and Ausemus. Teddy Paoni came within a hair of striking the pole but had to sit down after it turned foul and he flied out.

Ethan Goff leveraged a low strike zone to keep the Tigers off balance. Fort Scott suffered several short innings as they struck out or popped under low-riding pitches, though similar circumstances held Girard to their three runs despite the offensive production.

Fort Scott got a man on in the sixth inning and runners at the corners in a dangerous seventh-inning 3-2 situation, but Goff hammered in the narrow win, Girard’s first on the year.

Even better offensive performance in Game 2 led to four early runs, but Fort Scott came back and secured the eight they needed to end the doubleheader with one win for each team.

Coach Steve Bever said in a post-series doubleheader how he’s proud of the team’s effort and can’t blame them for the loss; pitching is simply a finite resource.

“It was a great series, we just ran outta fresh pitching,” Bever said. “It’s good to win and lose against a good team on their turf. These guys … they’re starting to believe in things.”

Banged-up softball now 3-1

A series of injuries, including fresh trouble with four different players on March 31 at Fort Scott Community College, didn’t prevent softball from scoring 13 runs in Game 1 to net an easy win.

Jaycee Murphy, Kelsey Kirby, Shelby Smith and Shay Grosstephan either couldn’t play at all or had to sit out for significant stretches over the course of the doubleheader.

“Our strength right now is putting the bat on the ball,” said Coach Jim Vinze. “Seems like everyone’s getting up and hitting.”

However, Vinze said endurance proved to be an issue with the injuries and thus Fort Scott quickly took control of Game 2.

“It’s just like Parsons,” he said. “We hope to heal up our injuries in the next week or two … but we got put in a tough spot and succeeded.”