Newport- The Newport Tigers Baseball team used an eight run third inning to beat the Sunapee Lakers at Bill Bates Memorial Field Thursday, 8-2.
Sunapee would threaten to score in the first, getting a runner on second base with only one out. That runner would get stranded however, as Logan Barry of Newport would strike out the side. Stranding runners would become a habit for the Lakers on Thursday.
Sunapee would score in the top of the second however, as Harper Flint would cross the plate on an error. Flint would have a great day at the plate from the bottom of the order, going 3-for-3 with a walk. “Harper hit well,” said Sunapee Head Coach Tom Frederick. “The bottom of the order was on-base almost every time.”
After a scoreless bottom of the second and top of the third, the Tigers’ bats caught fire. They would load the bases with no outs before a Cody Turgeon single drove in two. An error would score another run, and a Kyle Rossiter walk would make it 4-1.
Two more runs would be scored off errors, before back to back RBI singles by Kyle Fish and Tony Robertson to make the score 8-1 in favor of Newport. “That third inning was huge,” said Newport Head Coach Jon Hamel. “Things seem to happen, good or bad, all at once. We just put the ball in play.”
For Sunapee, the third inning meltdown was all about fielding. “It was a microcosm of our play and practice,” claimed Frederick. “We are waiting for someone else to make a play rather than making it ourselves. You cannot give a team 10 outs in an inning.”
An 8-1 cushion was more than enough for Barry on the mound. Newport’s pitcher used a bend but don’t break approach, allowing runners to reach base in every inning, but only allowing two runs to score. He would pitch into the seventh, striking out five while tossing 115 pitches. “We had to pull him at the end because of pitch count,” said Hamel. “Logan is the type of pitcher who gains steam as the game goes along.”
The Lakers would tack on a run in the sixth, to make the score 8-2. Fish closed the game out on the mound for Newport, after a stellar 4-for-4 day at the plate.
The bad loss did show some bright spots for Frederick. “I was really pleased with our pitching,” he said. The Lakers coach hopes that his team’s woes with runners in scoring position and in the field will lessen as the season rolls on. “We are apprehensive right now. As the season rolls on that will improve. Right now it’s just growing pains.”
Newport hopes to make it two wins in a row Friday against Mascoma. Sunapee will face Nute at home, hoping to bounce back.
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