Warriors baseball start season winless at 0-4
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By Ben Crane
The Tuscola Warriors baseball team began the season winless, dropping games to Westville 6-3, DuQuoin 7-0, Christopher-Ziegler-Royalton 5-1, and Benton 9-3.
“We saw some really good teams in our opening week and for the most part we competed very well,” said head coach Caleb Englehardt. “We were very much in every game until the later innings. We still need to clean up some things defensively but are far ahead of where we were at this time the last couple of years. Pitching is always ahead of hitting this time of year but our guys had many quality at bats and some hard hit balls that our opponents made good plays on. That is encouraging as we will get better through the year. By design the early schedule is intended to be a great challenge. It exposes deficiencies and provides many learning opportunities that we can use as a coaching staff. Given mostly competitive results I think there are many things we can build on.”
In their season opener, the Warriors took a 1-0 lead after a run in the top of the second inning and maintained a 2-1 lead headed to the fourth. However, Westville scored five runs in the next three innings to take a 6-2 lead heading into the top frame of the final inning.
One more run is all the Warriors could muster as they dropped 6-3 on three runs from five hits and four errors.
Jacob Waugh went 1-4 from the plate with a run while Caiden Russo finished 1-4 with an RBI. Cooper Lyons went 2-3 with a run while Evan Englehardt went 1-3 with an RBI. Joey Gibson finished 0-2 in the box but tallied a run himself.
Connor Musgrave pitched 3.2 innings, earning a four Ks while allowing five hits and one earned run. Russo followed with 2.1 IP with a K and allowed three hits, including an earned run.
The Warriors allowed two in the second, two in the fourth, one in the fifth, and two in the sixth in a 7-0 decision against DuQuoin. Tuscola had zero runs on seven hits and accrued three errors.
The Black and Gold were led by Waugh and Lyons, who finished 2-4 and 2-3 at the plate, respectively. Musgrave finished 1-3, Russo 1-4, and JJ Reynolds 1-3.
Englehardt got the start with 4.0 IP, a K, five hits, and four earned runs. Evan Vearil finished the last two innings with a K, four hits, and two earned runs.
Tuscola’s matchup against CZR remained knotted through two innings before CZR scored four runs in the third inning. Both sides scored a run in the fifth, where CZR finished the job, 5-1.
The Warriors put in a run on three hits and had three errors in the loss.
Waugh continued his hit streak going 1-3, while Musgrave went 1-2, scoring the only Warrior run. Englehardt finished 1-3 at the plate.
Jon Pettry got the start, pitching 4.2 innings with 2 Ks, three hits, and three earned runs. Aiden Devlin pitched 1.1 innings, also striking out two, allowing one hit, and zero earned runs.
In the final game of the week, the Warriors went down 4-0 by the end of the third before a three-run top of the sixth cut the lead. Benton followed with a five run frame to win the game, 9-3.
The Warriors had three runs on three hits and marked two errors.
Waugh extended his hit streak to four games, finishing 1-4 and scoring a run. Englehardt and Devlin went 1-2 apiece while Musgrave (0-4) and Russo (0-3) scored the other two Warrior runs.
Musgrave earned a K in 4.0 IP, allowing four hits and two earned runs. Reynolds pitched 1.1 innings, striking out two and allowing four runs. Lyons rounded out the game with 0.2 IP, allowing a hit and one earned run.