LYNN — It was a battle of the Braves at Volunteer Field in Lynn Monday night, where the home team won its game against Pine Hill, 9-2, in the opening game of the Lynn City Series.
East Lynn Coach Paul Hartford says batting practice may have been the key to this game.
“At batting practice, the manager throws it out harder than we’re going to see anyone pitch so they should be used to it. So, there’s no reason why they’re afraid to reach anybody,” said Hartford. “You know we try to throw it harder than what they’re going to see to get them used to it. So, we still hit the ball as well as we’re capable of, but we’ll take what we can get.”
Pine Hill went one- two-three in the top of the first. East Lynn’s Jhorwan Vasquez hit a single and then stole second and third before coming home on Josue Prandys’s single after Coleman was walked and Prandys followed Vasquez home on AJ Velazquez’s single, ending the inning with the score of 3-0.
The Pine Hill bats were still struggling in the top of the second as the Braves went down in order — proving that Prandys and Shawnie Coleman made an excellent pitching/catching team for East Lynn. Micah Torres of East Lynn hit a single before stealing second and third. He was sent home by Vasquez bringing the score to 4-0. Anthony Guerrero brought Vasquez home on his single, making the score 5-0. Guerrero then stole second and advanced on Coleman’s grounder. Guerrero then stole home, leading to the score of 6-0 in the bottom of the second.
“It was all about their pitching at the beginning of the game. Until we finally came through. We had a big walk from Emerson (Lara) and we had our only hit of the game from Luke Hannabury which was great,” said Pine Hill Manager Eric Hannabury. “We had a little hope, they took their pitcher out, I think they’re saving him for the next game, with the pitch counts. Brought a lot of confidence to my team. We were able to put some guys on base and get some runs across. We had our pitcher Jaeran Quionnes come in and really do a great job.”
Josue Prandys continued his perfect game for East Lynn into the top of the third putting down the three Pine Hill batters. Velazquez showed his might by hitting a triple but was left stranded in the bottom of the third.
Pine Hill’s first two batters struck out while the third got thrown out at first in the top of the fourth. Torres and Vasquez both hit singles in the bottom of the fourth. Mare Poste walked, loading the bases for Coleman. Coleman, Prandys, and Velazquez all walked allowing Torres, Vasquez, and Poste to come home, making the score 9-0 at the end of the inning.
Pine Hill’s Emerson Lara took advantage of the new pitcher and hit a single followed by Luke Hannabury’s hit. Lara then stole third and home while Hannabury stole second, third, and home making the score 9-2. Aaron Brelsford was then walked but was left on during the top of the fifth. Guerrero and Coleman both hit singles and stole second in the bottom of the fifth. Lara made an awesome jumping catch to get the second out of the inning.
“Eleven strikeouts and one ground out. It’s the best he’s looked all year. He has his moments of brilliance but that was a complete brilliance,” said Hartford. “I hated to take him out, but because of the way this tournament is, if we let him pitch another pitch, he wouldn’t have been able to come back Thursday when we play again.”
Jansel Pimentel walked, keeping Pine Hill’s hopes alive at the top of the sixth. Jacob Morin got hit by a pitch allowing him to take first while Pimentel advanced to second. However, both were left stranded as the last out of the game came.
Maddi Filip can be reached at [email protected].
