By Staff
Mike Self, Franklin County Times
RUSSELLVILLE – Russellville continued its strong start to the 2007 baseball season on Tuesday, sweeping a doubleheader against Hamilton to remain unbeaten.
The Golden Tigers (4-0) won the opener 10-0 in five innings behind a strong pitching performance by Preston Beasley. The senior righthander allowed just three hits in a complete game, striking out nine and walking two.
"Preston pitched a good ball game," said RHS coach David Ward, whose team finished off the sweep by rallying for an 8-6 win in the nightcap. "He couldn't throw anything straight if he tried. His pitches have so much movement on them, it's almost like he throws a natural slider."
Beasley struck out two batters in each of the first two innings, and he got Derrick Calvert looking to escape a first-and-third jam in the top of the third.
Russellville, already leading 4-0, put the game away with six runs in the bottom of the third.
Patrick Hines drew a bases-loaded walk to force home a run, and Caleb Mitchell made it 7-0 with a two-run double down the third base line. Jake Ward added an RBI single, and Seth Fergerson later capped off the inning with an RBI double to make it 10-0.
The Golden Tigers finished with 10 hits and reached double figures on the scoreboard for a second straight game.
"If Caleb and Jake can get on base at the top of the order, I think we have a chance to score a lot of runs," Ward said. "Corey Flanagan has good speed in the third spot, and Cory Trapp is a good hitter in the cleanup spot. Then you start getting into the big bats, and the guys at the bottom of the order can hit, too."
Fergerson had an RBI single in the first inning to give Russellville a 1-0 lead. The senior third baseman has already driven in a team-high six runs through the first four games.
Ward had a run-scoring single in the second inning and finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Hines added a double and a run scored, and Flanagan, Trapp, Torey Baird and Matt Crawford each had one hit.
In the nightcap, Hamilton scored four unearned runs in the top of the second inning to take a 5-2 lead.
Russellville scored three runs in the bottom of the third without the benefit of a hit. Three walks, an error, an RBI grounder and two wild pitches helped the Golden Tigers tie the game 5-5.
In the bottom of the fifth, Russellville took advantage of three walks, six wild pitches, and three stolen bases to score three more runs and take an 8-5 lead.
Trapp (1-0) earned the win in relief, allowing just one run on three hits in four innings. He struck out seven, including fanning the side in the top of the fifth.
Hamilton's only run off Trapp came on a solo homer by John Bolton leading off the last inning. Josh Huff reached on a two-out single to bring the tying run to the plate, but Trapp struck out Joey Frye to end the game.
Mitchell had a double and a run scored, and Trapp had a two-run single in the first inning. Torey Baird's single in the second was Russellville's only other hit.
The Golden Tigers will open play on Saturday in the Pepsi Tournament at Deshler. The tournament will run through all of next week.