Pirates send Hawks to second straight IVC loss

Garaway jumped all over Hiland ace Brad Schlabach in the first inning and the Pirates added some unearned insurance in the sixth inning that helped hold off the Hawks 7-5, in Inter-Valley Conference baseball action Thursday in Sugarcreek.

"We're in a funk right now, a two-game losing streak," said Hiland coach Tom Gibson. "We played four bad games this week, starting off with Strasburg on Monday. We played bad against Conotton on Tuesday and lost at Ridgewood yesterday, and then today.

"We're dropping pop flies, dropping cuts," the coach continued. "But we keep telling these guys, baseball is not a sprint, but a cross country race. You've got your ups and downs, and I think we'll be back. We better be; the tournament starts Saturday (May 8)."

The first five Pirates reached base and scored against Schlabach in the Garaway first after Hiland left two runners in scoring position with nobody out in the top of the frame.

"That first inning, we had guys on second and third with nobody out and didn't score," Gibson said. "You've got to put the ball in play. We took third strikes. We didn't deserve to win this game.

"They hit the ball hard, Gibson continued. "We weren't mixing things up and they made us pay. That was a communication problem that we took care of. Bradley settled down after that first inning and pitched well."

Schlabach allowed only one hit over the next four innings, a lead-off double in the third inning by Greg Moomaw, but held the Pirates scoreless.

Hiland, meanwhile, chipped away at the Garaway lead, scoring a run in the fifth and two in the sixth.

Kendall Wagler walked to open the fifth inning and moved to second on a wild pitch. He scored on a single by Johnny Raber.

Jalen Miller walked with one out in the sixth. He was thrown out at second on a fielder's choice. Wagler walked and Grant Troyer singled in both runners with a clutch hit with two outs.

"That was a good at-bat," Gibson said in praise of Troyer's hit. He fouled off five pitches before finally driving a shot to right center that ended the day for Moomaw on the hill for the Pirates. Brennan Mullet relieved and got Raber looking to end the inning.

"We got two great pitching efforts tonight," said Garaway coach Justin Elmore. "Greg pitched well tonight, and Brennan came in and ponied up after not pitching in a while."

After the Hawks closed to 5-3, Garaway answered with two gift runs in the home half of the sixth. Mullet lifted a fly behind second base that was muffed for a two-base error. Toby Miller followed with a solid single to score Mullet. He went to second on the throw and scored on a one-out single by Cody Stress.

Danny Beachy reached on an error to open the home half of the seventh, and Luke Burch doubled him home. Two infield ground outs scored Burch, but B.J. Miller grounded back to Mullet to end the game.

"It was important for us to start fast," Elmore said. "We're starting to get tunnel vision for the tournament, and I told these guys they need to start fast in the tournament, because if you start slow, you can get buried, and the kids responded."

The loss dropped the Hawks to 11-3 in the IVC, 17-3 overall. Garaway improved to 9-4, 16-6.