HAGERSTOWN, Ind. – The Hagerstown baseball team opened the season on Wednesday as the Tigers defeated Richmond 5-0 at Lloyd Michael Field.
“For us early in the season to play Richmond is always a test,” Hagerstown coach Brad Catey said. “It’s one of the easier games to get up for.”
Richmond coach Shawn Turner wants the youthful Red Devils to keep improving.
“We didn’t play very good at all,” Turner said. “That’s our fault as coaches. The Hagerstown team did a lot better job of getting their kids ready.”
“They threw two good pitchers at us and did a nice job,” Turner added. “They’re pretty excited. That’s the first time they’ve won since (19)99.”
Hagerstown’s Trey Kelley (1-0) earned the victory on the mound for the Tigers with Drew Pyle getting the final seven outs to earn a save.
“We’ll have to get better,” Turner said. “You have to have an approach at the plate and we didn’t. They were dominant and we didn’t have anything for them.”
Austin Turner had the only two singles for the Red Devils with both coming against Kelley, who had 10 strikeouts.
After Richmond starting pitcher Phillip Hobbs held Hagerstown scoreless through two frames, the Tigers scored three times in the third.
“You could see the enthusiasm,” Catey said. “The guys got into it. They got a little bit of confidence going. Hitting is contagious.”
Kelley doubled with one out in inning and then Mason Hicks walked. Pyle knocked in both of his teammates with a double to put the Tigers on top. Trent Weiss capped the rally with a RBI double to make it 3-0.
“The guys were up and obviously ready to play,” Catey said. “We left a few guys on, but as the game went on we did a much better job.”
In the sixth, Hicks added a two-run double for the last runs of the contest. Kelley, Pyle and Weiss had two hits each for the Tigers.
Hagerstown (1-0) entertains Seton Catholic on Tuesday.
Box Score
Richmond 000 000 0 – 0 2 2
Hagerstown 003 002 x – 5 8 2
Batteries – Richmond: Phillip Hobbs, Spencer Lanman (L), Josiah Sizemore. Hagerstown: Trey Kelley (W), Drew Pyle (S) and Cameron Purtha.
2B – Hagerstown: Trey Kelley 2, Drew Pyle, Trent Weiss, Mason Hicks. LOB – Richmond 8, Hagerstown 9.