BASEBALL: Holly picking up the pace, sweeps rival Fenton
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
Dan.Stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter:@LocalSportsFans
HOLLY — When Holly captured its first league championship in baseball in 43 seasons last year, the Bronchos started slow and finished strong.
Holly eventually overcame a 2-6 start to finish 10-6 in the league and share the crown with Clio. Benny Jackson, Holly’s third-year coach, hopes that there are some similarities to this season.
The Bronchos moved into third-place Monday in the nine-school Flint Metro League, posting a sweep of Fenton, 2-1 in nine innings and 11-1 in six frames. Holly trails only Linden and Ortonville Brandon with seven league games to go.
“We were in a similar position last year. We had a bunch of losses early on, then we got on a roll and won our first league in 43 years,” said Jackson, who is in his third season with Holly, picking up 47 wins in 2.5 seasons. “We know we have to get on a roll now. We lose a couple of more in the next week, when we play Linden, and we’re out of it. We win those, then we’re right back in the thick of things. We had some early losses. But we’re playing much better.”
Holly (8-7, 5-4) gave up only two runs in 15 innings of action Monday against Fenton. Senior Drew Eggleston picked up the win in relief in Game 1, then came back and pitched his first no-hitter in the nightcap. He gave up one unearned run in Game 2, which included six strikeouts, one walk and one hit batsmen.
GOING HOME:Holly’s Adam Tooley rounds third during the Bronchos’ twinbill sweep of Fenton Monday. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt
“Eggleston pitched great,” said Jackson. “He came (into) a pitcher’s duel in the first game with the score 1-1 and shut them down the last two innings, giving us a chance. In the second game, he just shut them down. This was his best pitching performance of the season.”
Eggleston helped his own cause by providing a trio of hits in three plate appearances with an RBI in the nightcap. Frank Richmond drilled a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning in Game 2 which ended the game via the mercy rule. Sophomore Adam Tooley was 2-for-2 with three runs scored.
In the opener, both Holly senior left-hander Joel Perry and Fenton senior right-hander Jamie Castielione — both first-team All-FML selections last year — engaged in a good old fashioned pitcher’s duel in Game 1, although both pitched only seven innings in a nine-inning affair and did not factor into a decision. Perry had 11 strikeouts, walked three and allowed two hits. Castielione scattered three hits, walked two and fanned 11, while for the fourth time this season he allowed three or less hits.
Holly trailed most of the game, before plating a run in the sixth. Perry walked and later scored on Austin Jennings’ RBI single to left field. The Bronchos stranded runners on second and third in the inning.
It wasn’t until the ninth that Holly finally plated the winning run in an unusual manner. Tom O’Connor led off the inning with a single and after Jackson Gabbett struck out, O’Connor sailed home on a passed ball, barley beating the throw at the plate and sliding underneath the tag. Chase Coselman suffered the loss for Fenton, yielding two hits in two innings of work.
“To win, sometimes you need a little bit of luck. The third strike got by the catcher and (Connor) was able to score,” said Jackson. “That’s baseball. In a pitcher’s duel like that, you have to be patient.”
Holly, which finished 21-11 in 2012 and 19-10 last season, is starting to hit the ball in the past couple of weeks.
“We are hitting the ball better. Except for the first game, which was a great duel, we’re starting to get more hits and been (more opportunistic),” said Jackson. “We’ll need to if we are going to stay in the hunt. It’s a lot like the past two years. There’s a lot of teams that are fairly close (in talent). We knew a lot of teams had a chance.”
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