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Fred T. Foard’s Lane Essary, 7, watches a deep fly ball clear the right-field wall for a two-run home run in the fourth inning of Tuesday night’s game against East Lincoln in Newton. Essary was also the winning pitcher in the Tigers’ 4-2 victory over the Mustangs.
NEWTON — Pitching and defense is often the mantra for winning baseball. At the start of a crucial stretch in the schedule, both East Lincoln and Fred T. Foard got strong pitching, but it was Foard that took advantage of sketchy defense in a 4-2 win Tuesday night in a Western Foothills 3A Conference game.
The night started with both the Tigers (6-1 overall) and visiting East Lincoln (6-1) in a four-way tie with North Lincoln and St. Stephens atop the standings at 3-0 in league play. With the victory, Foard kept its share of first with St. Stephens, which defeated North Lincoln 5-2 on Tuesday. The Lincoln County and Catawba County schools will swap partners Friday night with Foard hosting North Lincoln while the Mustangs go home to face St. Stephens. The tough stretch will continue next week with the Tigers taking on Hickory and St. Stephens.
“We’ve got three really strong teams at the top of the 3A standings, if you look at the 3A West,” said Tigers head coach Channon Vogel. “Throw Hickory in there, who’s always scrappy. To get that first win, to keep us a little bit ahead of everybody else, is huge.”
Tuesday’s game was highlighted by strong starting pitching for both teams. Carson Dahle pitched the first four innings for East Lincoln, allowing two hits and hitting a batter while striking out 11 of the 17 hitters he faced. Opposing Dahle on the mound was Lane Essary, who gutted out six innings of three-hit ball with one walk, a hit batter and 10 strikeouts.
A pair of errors gifted East Lincoln a run in the third. Matt Phuntek started the inning by lofting a fly ball down the line in left that fell just out of the reach of Kylan Bolick, who made the long sprint toward the play. Phuntek then stole second and advanced to third when catcher Blake Powell’s throw sailed into center. While backing up the play in center, the ball scooted by Hayden Tabor, which allowed Phuntek to complete his scamper all the way home.
East Lincoln added another in the fourth when Mike Ross was able to sprint home on a wild pitch with two outs.
However, Foard got even in the bottom of the fourth when Essary blasted his third homer of the season, an opposite-field shot that cleared the fence in right-center.
Vogel said the clout by the senior breathed life into the club.
“That was huge by Lane,” said Vogel. “He was pitching well. We gave them two runs early with our defense. Lane was fired up. He did not want to lose this game. … When it cleared the fence, that kind of settled us down.”
Back-to-back East Lincoln errors put the Tigers on the offensive in the fifth against reliever Logan Palmer. With one out, a roller by Tabor scooted up the arm of Isaac Armstrong at short for the boot. The next batter, Connor Peschel, popped up near first but the ball fell as none of the Mustangs fielders took charge of the play.
With Tabor forced to hold at first, the Mustangs still had the force in play at second, but Evan Davidson’s throw sailed into left-center for the error, which allowed the runner to advance. Braxton Tramel walked to load the bases.
It appeared Foard took the lead when Essary was hit by a pitch, but the home plate umpire ruled that the hitter intentionally moved his arm into the ball. Palmer eventually battled through 10 pitches before recording the strikeout. However, Bolick took a first-pitch fastball out to left-center for a two-run single that turned out to be the final margin.
East Lincoln put a pair of runners aboard in the sixth, but Powell threw out Graham Smiley on a steal attempt. After Evan Matile was hit by a pitch, Essary ended inning and his outing by striking out Landon Burns.
Zac Martin took over for Essary in the seventh, but the final three outs were not without tension. Phuntek walked to start the inning before he was replaced on the bases by Nick Borchardt’s fielder’s choice. One out later, Dahle, who returned as a pinch-runner, advanced to second on a wild pitch. The Tigers chose to intentionally walk Garrett Michel, who entered the game with nine home runs in six games. Martin then struck out Gavin Houser to end the game.
“The versatility of this team and the willingness to do whatever it takes to get the win,” Vogel said. “They don’t care who gets the credit, as long as the scoreboard is in our favor at the end of the game. I just can’t say enough about how they played tonight.”
East Lincoln;001;100;0;–;2;3;4
Fred T. Foard;000;220;X;–;4;3;3
WP: Lane Essary (3-1)
LP: Logan Palmer (1-1)
Sv: Zac Martin (2)
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Fred T. Foard’s Lane Essary, 7, watches a deep fly ball clear the right-field wall for a two-run home run in the fourth inning of Tuesday night’s game against East Lincoln in Newton. Essary was also the winning pitcher in the Tigers’ 4-2 victory over the Mustangs.
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