Atlantic commits six errors and surrenders four unearned runs in 7-4 defeat
By Drew Herron - NT Sports Editor / May 22, 2013
ATLANTIC – Six errors and nine stranded base runners spoiled the 2013 opener for the Trojans Tuesday night, as a stack of missteps allowed Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln to pack up and leave town with a 7-4 victory.
As the Trojans took the field for the first time after losing seven of its nine starters from a season ago, the new group of varsity starters simply left too much on the table and didn’t take advantage of the opportunities afforded them.
“It’s inexperience,” Trojans coach Trace Petersen said afterwards. “We are replacing seven starters, and a lot of these guys need to learn to get caught up to the speed of the game. Both in practice and in games, we need to see steady improvement.”
AL plated one unearned run in the first inning, then added three more in the third as Trojan errors allowed the Lynx to rally.
Sophomore right-hander Tristen Benn made the start, and pitched effectively for the most part. But the defense behind him was shaky, and let him down on several occasions.
He threw four innings, allowed four hits, two earned runs, walked one, and struck out four.
“Tristen threw strikes, changed speeds and kept the ball down,” coach Petersen says. “But he didn’t get any help behind him.”
Benn was relieved by senior Chad Christensen in the fifth inning. Christensen threw two innings, allowed one earned run on two hits, walked one and struck out one. In the seventh inning, Zach Nelson closed out the game and didn’t allow a hit, but two errors yielded an unearned run, keeping in theme the defensive letdowns for all three hurlers.
“The pitchers did their part, they threw strikes and they didn’t get hurt by (AL) hitting the baseball,” coach Petersen says. “But our defense was bad, six errors and you are never going to win any ballgames.”
Atlantic got on the board in the fourth inning when Dalton Franken led off with a single, and eventually scored on a wild pitch. The Trojans scored one more run in the fifth when Franken drove in Zach Nelson on a groundout, and Atlantic plated two runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Nelson, hitting in the No. 2 spot, finished the game 2-for-2 with two runs scored, a pair of walks and two stolen bases. Franken, Brody Peterson and Benn also collected hits for the Trojans in the loss.
Atlantic left nine men stranded on the base paths, and left them loaded in the first and the fourth innings, as missed opportunities proved costly.
“We need to get hits when we need them,” coach Petersen says. “We probably only hit two or three balls hard all night.”
With so many positions to fill, Atlantic’s lineup will very much be a work in progress, as coach Petersen expects to experiment heavily and move pieces in-and-out, especially early on.
“We need to find guys who are able to make basic, routine plays, and also get them at-bats,” coach Petersen says. “We’ve got 12 or 13 guys who need to get at-bats. It’s going to be something we are going to look at. We’ve got enough depth, that if plan A doesn’t work out one night, we can go to plan B.”
Atlantic (0-1) returns to action Thursday with a trip to Adel to face ADM, then returns home Friday to face Carroll to close out the first week.
No comments:
Post a Comment