A little pitching - and a lot of hitting

This week in baseball brought us a good old-fashioned pitcher's duel between Shakamak and White River Valley, offensive firepower unleashed by the Linton-Stockton Miners and the first win of the season for the Bloomfield Cardinals.

So without further ado, let's dive into the action on area ball diamonds this past week.

******

Tuesday I witnessed arguably the best-pitched game I've seen in the two years I've covered baseball for the Greene County Daily World.

I did see two perfect games thrown in 2015.

Shakamak's Dylan Collins pitched five flawless innings in a 10-0, five-inning win over Bloomfield.

And Miner fans won't soon forget then-freshman Samuel Steimel's perfect game as Sullivan eliminated the Linton-Stockton Miners 3-0 in the championship game of the Class 2A Sullivan baseball sectional.

But I had not seen a game where pitchers on both sides were as stellar as Shakamak's Braden Scott and White River Valley's Brayton Cornelius were Tuesday in Jasonville.

Scott struck out 13 earning the complete-game shutout. And he made many of those 13 strikeout victims look downright inept at times with a wicked arsenal of pitches.

The Wolverines could only muster three hits against the ace lefty.

Scott looked every bit the Division I pitcher he will be next season at Marshall University.

Cornelius was nearly as sharp. The Wolverine sophomore hurler whiffed nine, allowing just five hits and three walks.

He also escaped a two-on, nobody out situation in Shakamak's second turn at bat and worked his way out of a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the sixth.

The bags were filled after two walks and an infield hit. Cornelius bore down, striking out the next hitter and inducing a popup and a ground ball to get out of the inning.

Both coaches - Shakamak skipper Todd Gambill and WRV boss Chris Cornelius - cited several missed opportunities.

But the pitching might have had something to do with both teams' failure to cash in.

"It was a lack of execution on our part and good pitching on his part," Gambill noted. "But WRV deserves a lot of credit especially Cornelius. He did a really nice job."

Am I White River Valley's good luck charm? It sure seems like it.

The Wolverines have looked impressive both times I've seen them play. Granted, I didn't watch WRV's game against Northeast Dubois where 10 errors led to 14 unearned runs, or the six-error performance in an 8-0 loss to Clay City.

There were no such foibles in the field at Shakamak.

As much as Tuesday's game was a pitching gem for both sides, you could also call it a "Web Gem."

Both teams played errorless ball. I believe that's the first high school game I've seen where neither team committed an error in the field.

Gambill said it best. "Both pitchers pitched well and got themselves out of jams. And both defenses played well behind them."

The game's best play in the field belonged to WRV's Tyler York.

Shakamak had two runners aboard and nobody out in the second inning. After the next two Laker hitters took a seat, Tanner Yeryar stepped to the plate. Yeryar mashed one over York's head in center field. But York got a good jump and tracked the ball down, hauling it in for a long out and averting a potential big inning for the Lakers.

Yeryar likely would have been standing at third base with Zack Moorman, Scott and Parker Green due up.

Yet another of the missed opportunities Gambill and Cornelius alluded to.

Twice WRV had a runner 90 feet away. And twice the Wolverines were unable to push a run across - when they only needed one.

The second batter Scott faced, Brayton Cornelius singled and advanced to third on a fielder's choice and a wild pitch. And at third he stayed.

WRV's last chance also slipped away. Catcher Trey English led off the sixth with a deep double to the gap in right center - the game's other hard-hit ball - and took third on a wild pitch.

Then Scott mowed down the next three hitters, fanning them all and leaving English stranded.

But good luck hitting Scott on this night.

The Shakamak senior southpaw came with some nasty stuff in his 3-hit, 13-strikeout effort.

Coach Cornelius said, "Braden kept us off balance all night."

Off balance is one way to describe it. The Laker lefty had hitters lunging at pitches out of the zone all night.

And you can't blame the hitters. Those pitches looked like they were right down the pipe - until they dove at the last instant.

*****

One team that hasn't had any trouble hitting is Linton-Stockton. The Miners have been knocking the cover off the ball of late.

Linton-Stockton has piled up 35 runs and 38 hits in three of its last four outings - wins over Bloomfield, Washington and Clay City.

But despite 11 runs on 12 hits, the Miners needed Kendall Williams' walk-off three-run double in the bottom of the seventh inning to overtake Washington 11-10 Tuesday.

After Linton-Stockton exploded for seven runs in its first turn at bat, the Hatchets got back in the game with three runs in the second, two in the fourth and one in the fifth.

The Hatchets also took advantage of four Linton-Stockton errors and 10 free passes.

Linton-Stockton hurlers issued seven walks and three hit batsmen.

But thanks to Williams coming through in the clutch, the Miners survived.

Linton-Stockton had no such problem in a 12-0 blowout Clay City Eels Thursday.

The Miners' 12 runs came on 13 hits. Six of those went for extra bases - five doubles and Logan Hollingsworth's three-run homer.

And the Eels wouldn't come back to make a game of it as the Hatchets did.

Maybe the Miners got lucky they didn't have to face the Eels' ace, Purdue-bound Hunter Wolfe. I'm not sure it would have mattered.

Hollingsworth was nearly untouchable. He was superb on the mound, allowing just one scratch single and whiffing six in four innings.

Coach Matt Fougerousse said, "I told the kids to come out and score some runs just like we did against Washington in the first inning. But this time, don't let up. Keep going and don't get complacent."

Every aspect of the game seems to be coming together for the Miners. And Fougerousse thinks his team is capable of playing better.

"Our bats are starting to come around. And our defense and pitching have been good so far. But I'm still waiting for that 'perfect game.' And hopefully it comes during state tourney time."

*****

Jason Pegg's Bloomfield Cardinal squad picked up its first win of the season Monday at North Knox. The Cardinals came away with an 11-9 win despite eight errors in a game Pegg described as "Ugly."

North Knox might well go 0-for-Greene County this season.

Unfortunately Bloomfield reverted to losing ways in its next two outings.

The next night four Cardinal errors led to three unearned runs and an 8-3 loss at South Knox. Bloomfield managed just four hits and stranded 10 baserunners.

Wednesday the Cardinals fell for the sixth time, 13-5 at home to conference rival North Daviess.

*****

There will be no shakeup in the weekly rankings just yet.

Our top three teams all appear very close - although I'm still puzzled by WRV's losses to Northeast Dubois and Clay City.

Linton-Stockton has yet to play the Lakers or the Wolverines. I've got Saturday, May 7 circled on my calendar. That's the date Shakamak comes to Linton.

Terry's Weekly Rankings

1. Shakamak (7-4, 3-0)

2. Linton-Stockton (7-2, 3-0)

3. White River Valley (6-4, 0-2)

4. Eastern Greene (2-3, 0-1)

5. Bloomfield (1-6, 0-2)

Terry Schwinghammer is a sports writer for the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached by telephone at (812) 847-4487, ext. 27. He can also be reached via email at tschwing32@yahoo.com.