- Hannibal, MO
Strong pitching, a lack of offense, and poor defense was the recipe for an ugly game one win by the Blues. Only one player, Tyler Leihenseder, was able to scratch out more than one hit on the day. "Hooves" was fearless at the plate lacing singles in his first two plate appearances. The Reds could not capitalize on "Snookie's" top shelf performance, however, scratching out only three other base runners on the game and plating none of them.
The Blues version of Batman (Justin McGhee) and Robin (Jacob Genz) were in complete control on the mound. The Dynamic Duo combined for eight strike outs and zero walks in the shutout. Batman vowed to never take up firearms as a way to help him fight crime, because that's how his parents got murdered, but on Wednesday he was not afraid to use his super powered right arm and Bat Senses to dismantle his foes. The Dark Night managed to not work into one three ball count through four strong innings of work. Boy Wonder proved to be a loyal sidekick by not allowing a hit in three innings.
The pitching was also strong for the Reds. Blake Zurliene got the start and worked his way out of a first inning jam by coaxing a bases loaded double play and a fly out. Big Z was on cruise control after the first, allowing zero hits the rest of his 3 2/3 innings outing. Three pitchers tag-teamed the rest of the game allowing three hits in the remaining two and one third innings. It was not the hits, however, that would be the deciding factor. Three of the five errors committed by the Reds came in a two-run fifth inning that ultimately did them in. The Blues tried to return the favor in the 7th by committing two errors of their own, but Genzy-poo was able to work through the mess and qualify for the win. The Blues took game one by a score of 2-0.
Game two is scheduled for 3:30 on Thursday at Nichols Field.
- Trojan beat writer, Clay Biggs
