Sullivan Fights Union In A Defensive Battle
By Wyatt Hardy
The Sullivan Post 18 baseball team played the Union Legion 297 in an intense matchup last Wednesday. The game started with both teams putting up a strong defensive effort, preventing any runs from being scored in the first few innings. Despite their best efforts, Sullivan faced tough competition from the opposing team. Union took advantage of scoring opportunities and effectively shut down their offense, ultimately winning 1-7.
The game started off with Cambrian Koch singling on a fly ball to left fielder Parker Schrader. Alex Toews then grounded into fielder’s choice, forcing Koch to run to second. Sullivan’s dugout began cheering him on, but the Curnutte brothers tagged him out. Dustin Lappe hit a double play, getting Post 18 to three outs.
Union was ready to dominate and score but fell short. First baseman Lappe and third baseman Beau Beckett had great chemistry, forcing two ground outs. Then Nick D’Onofrio flew out to center fielder Brennan Bouse for the third one.
Top of the second, the Post 18 still struggled in making progress and Union’s defense shut them down. Sullivan was ready to let go and responded the same way. Koch struck out Hall for the first out. After that play, shortstop Halbert grounded Ardell Young out and threw to first baseman Beckett to stop Trenton Kossmann from advancing to second. Beckett tagged first base again for the final out.
Onto the third inning, Sullivan returned with a little bit more aggression but ultimately fell short of making it to home plate.
Union took over but still struggled to make any progress. Beckett continued his stellar performance on first base by catching a pop-out by Ethan Curnutte. Then on the second out, left fielder Toews made a great grab on Kasey Griffin’s high ball. For the last one, Connor Curnutte was caught stealing second.
Start of the fourth, both teams were still struggling to make progress on the bases. Beckett walked to first base, but the other batters couldn’t achieve anything.
Union was ready to get some action going in this scoreless game. Peyton Hall safely walked to first base and Hall quickly advanced to second. After an error by Koch, he safely made it to third. The first score of the game finally occurred when Young singled on a ground ball to third baseman Lappe, allowing Hall to make it to home plate.
Top of the fifth, Carey was hit by a pitch and walked to first base. Then Smith bunted into a fielder’s choice, but an out was made on Dylan Jones when he attempted a run to second. Koch swung on a fast ground ball, yet Smith didn’t make the base quick enough as it was tagged. Toews then grounded out for the third out.
Union managed to drive up the lead with well-executed timing and plays. Bases were loaded when D’Onofrio connected with the ball, hitting it far left field. Ethan Curnutte, Griffin and Connor Curnutte all made it to home plate, bringing up the score, 0-4.With a powerful hit by Hall, D’Onofrio seized the moment to make it home. Koch finally stopped their run by getting Kossmann out on a dropped third strike.
Sullivan’s dugout was now amped up and ready to take over this game. But, as hard as they tried, they were unsuccessful with 3 unanswered outs.
Union took the bat again with Braden Pracht and Schrader reaching bases on back-to-back errors. Then Pracht swiftly ran home on a ground out and Schrader speedily escaped to third base. On the next play, Schrader made it home, running up the scoreboard, 0-7. Sullivan’s opportunities for a comeback had shrunk.
But the Post 18 team would not surrender the battle just yet. Sullivan came back with fire and hoped to make a comeback for the books. Halbert vigorously swung, hitting a ground ball and reaching first base on an error. Sam Leonard and Jansen Loeb both walked to the plate. Sullivan now had all bases loaded with only 1 out. Halbert clutched his moment and quickly ran home from third as Smith grounded into a double play. The dugout was ecstatic and cheering, but the enthusiasm ended when a pop-out was made on the next at-bat.
Sullivan lost in a tough defensive battle to Union, 1-7. They fought until the final out, never giving up and continuing to compete vigorously until the end. However, Union’s pitchers and outfielders shut down Sullivan’s offense in the final innings and came out victors. Despite attempted comebacks, Sullivan was unable to overcome the lead established by their opponents.