Red Raiders fail to produce offense against Eagles’ productive small ball
By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times
Coatesville celebrated senior night on Tuesday with pictures of the seniors along the first base line.
CALN – Some nights, especially against lesser opponents, it seems like a team is waiting for the offense to arrive, for the hit that sparks the bats so they can rally past the opposition.
That spark never came for Coatesville in the baseball team’s 4-1 home loss to Bishop Shanahan on Tuesday night.
Coming into the game at 15-4, the Red Raiders, who were celebrating senior night, looked like heavy favorites over the 6-12 Eagles.
When Shanahan scored in the top of the first, the 1-0 deficit seemed like a minor setback on Coatesville’s way to victory. Though left stranded, senior shortstop CJ Young reached third in the bottom half of the inning, suggesting that the runs would soon come for the home team.
But through the next three innings, Coatesville did not manage a hit. Senior Clint Leslie got on base due to an error in the bottom of the second and managed to get into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt, only to be thrown out when he could not get back to second after Shanahan caught a fly ball.
Aaron Cummings looks in a fly ball in the seventh. Though the Red Raiders did not allow more than one run in any inning, Shanahan was able to nickle-and-dime their way to victory.
Still, the Red Raiders’ defense kept them in the game early. They made easy work of Shanahan’s grounders to keep the game at 1-0 until the fifth.
The fifth inning opened with a walk and a Coatesville error on a bunt. Another walk loaded the bases for the Eagles. Senior Pitcher CJ Martinez would eventually strike out the last batter on three pitches, but not before the visitors added another run.
Shanahan would continue adding to the lead in the final innings. A couple of hits put runners on the corners in the top of the sixth, and an overthrown pickoff attempt brought in a third run.
In the bottom half, it looked like Coatesville would finally open the game up. Young and senior catcher Jake Kennedy both took walks. Senior third baseman Emmett Hunt’s groundball found the gap up the middle to bring home Young, and an overthrow put runners on second and third with one out. Leslie’s fly ball to center looked like it would score another, but a catch followed by a tag at the plate gave the Eagles the double play to end the inning leading 3-1.
The Red Raiders narrowly avoided giving up a solo shot in the final inning when a line drive hit the fence in left field, but the double was enough to put a runner in scoring position. An error on what should have been a routine fly ball then allowed Shanahan to increase its lead to 4-1.
The rally just never came for Coatesville, especially in the final inning when two batters struck out looking to seal the game for the away team.
