Pitching and Defense Shine
After getting rained out at Altamont on Monday, the Cougars bounced back for two wins on Tuesday and Wednesday
when they defeated Clay City 4-1 and Stewardson-Strasburg 2-0 to up their record to 3-1 on the young season.
Pitching and defense took center stage as the Cougar hurlers allowed a meager six hits, three in each game,
and committed only one error in the back-to-back victories.
On Tuesday, starter Wade Crain pitched 5 solid innings to pick-up his first win of the year as he allowed
no runs on one hit, five strikeouts, and one walk.
Reliever Tyler Mulvany notched the save with his two innings of work, giving up the only run on two hits and one
walk.
The Cougar bats have yet to come alive and the offense scored all of their runs in the opening frame as the
first four hitters crossed the plate. Spencer Patton's 2-RBI single and James Gile's 2-run homer highlighted the
uprising.
On Wednesday, Nick Simmons pitched six and a third scoreless innings and the defense backed him up by
playing errorless ball in the closely contested contest with the Comets.
Simmons allowed only two hits to go along with his eight strikeouts and no walks to earn his first victory
of the season. Patton recorded the last two outs via the strikeout to get the save.
The offense remained in the deep freeze, but did manage to push across single runs in the 5th and 6th innings.
After back-to-back singles by Tommy Daugherty and Tyler Mulvany, Simmons lofted a soft liner to right to score
the first run and Patton's RBI single, after a Wade Crain double and Blake Lane single, accounted for the other tally.
The Cougars return to action on Monday when they travel to Flora to battle the Wolves at 4:30 PM.
