Hornets ride early outburst

A six-run first inning supplied the Fulton Hornets with the strong start they were seeking.

Fulton sent 11 batters to the plate in the bottom of the first and used that as a launching point in their 12-2, five-inning romp over the New Bloomfield Wildcats on Friday night at the high school athletic complex.

“It’s kind of funny,” Hornets head coach John Brinkmann said. “Before the game I said, ‘Guys, we’re gonna shut them down and in the first inning we’re gonna come out and score four,’ and they topped me and got six.”

Junior shortstop Devin Masek opened the inning with a single to right and raced to third on another single to right by junior designated hitter Luke Gray, who stole second. Masek then scored on a one-out fielder’s choice by junior catcher Cameron Vititoe, who was replaced by sophomore courtesy runner Solomon Huff.

Senior center fielder Zach Franklin smacked a two-out single to left, scoring Gray to make it 2-0 and moving Huff to second. After senior second baseman Tristan Steffens drew a walk to load the bases, senior third baseman Jacob Hammerstone connected for a single to center to bring home Huff.

With the bases still loaded, Franklin extended Fulton’s lead to 4-0 when he scored after junior left fielder Josh Quick was hit by a pitch. Coming to the plate again, Masek drove in Steffens and Hammerstone with a single to right to punctuate the Hornets’ outburst.

“It was exactly what we were asking for — you couldn’t ask for much more than that,” Brinkmann said as Fulton improved to 8-6 on the season with its second straight victory. “The whole inning starts with Devin Masek leading off the game with a hit and then Luke Gray sees a pitch and puts it through the hole, doing his job with the same approach I’ve been talking about all year, being simple, keeping his hands back and he goes the other way.”

The Wildcats (11-7) answered back with a pair of runs in the top of the second. Sophomore center fielder Nick Hammann hit a leadoff single to left and junior designated hitter Robert Manning was hit by a pitch with one out.

Senior shortstop Grant Nichols was safe on an error with two outs to load the bases and senior second baseman Clay Jensen following by knocking in Hamman and Manning with a single to center. New Bloomfield, though, was shut out after that, managing only three hits the rest of the way.

“We actually played a pretty good ballgame, we just hit everything right at them,” New Bloomfield head coach Justin Forsythe said. “This was a tough loss. We squeaked by last night (2-1 win Thursday night) against Tuscumbia, a team we’ve handled well in the past (16-1 rout on April 9). Things just aren’t going our way right now.

“… They had some guys on (in the first), we messed up some defensive plays that shouldn’t happen and we let them take that big lead. Our kids have to learn to fight, we’ve got to put some things together and we didn’t do that today.”

Fulton started to pull away by adding three more runs in the fourth. Masek led off with a double to left and went to third on a bunt single by Gray. Junior first baseman Jared Peery then popped a three-run home run to left to increase the Hornets’ advantage to 9-2.

“He just had an all-around great day,” Brinkmann said of Peery. “He’s been our top offensive player all year and he’s proved once again why he’s hitting in the three hole. He didn’t start out the year there but he’s earned it — that’s his spot right now and he’s going to stay there.”

Fulton then sealed the runaway win by putting up its final three runs in the fifth. Senior right fielder Trenton Clines led off with a single to left and advanced on a groundout by Hammerstone. Clines went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Quick’s sacrifice fly.

Masek hit a one-out single to center and went to second on a botched pickoff attempt. Gray was then hit by a pitch and both runners moved up on another wild pitch. Peery followed with a single to right, scoring both Masek and Peery to end the game on the 10-run rule.

Peery finished 3-for-4 and Masek went 4-for-4 as the Hornets piled up 12 hits. Gray was also 2-for-3.

“Everyone had a good approach; even if they didn’t get hits today, they had good approaches,” Brinkmann said. “Obviously we had a few guys step up. Devin Masek went 4-for-4, Jared Peery obviously hits a home run, I think he had five RBI on the day. I mean, those are just two guys stepping up.

“It’s a team win and like I said the other day, they are definitely starting to grow that confidence. If we keep hitting like this, we’re going to scare a lot of good teams at the end of the year.”

Hammann went 2-for-2 as New Bloomfield logged seven hits.

“We hit balls hard, just right at people today,” Forsythe said. “We pitched well, they just found some holes with their hits. They blooped a few in that cost us and they squared up about four balls real hard.

“We just have to learn from our mistakes at the end of the day and grow from our frustration.”

Junior starter Devon Keltner (1-1) threw a complete game to earn the victory for Fulton. Keltner allowed two unearned runs on seven hits, struck out one and walked one.

“He was pounding the strike zone, getting us strikes and just being a pitcher out there,” Brinkmann said. “Our pitchers have been good all year.”

Senior starter Tyler Fennewald also went the distance in being tagged with the loss for the Wildcats. Fennewald was roughed up for 12 runs — 11 earned — on 12 hits, struck out two and walked one.

Fulton plays a non-conference game at Fatima — ranked No. 3 in Class 3 — at 5 p.m. Monday.

New Bloomfield travels to Harrisburg for a makeup non-conference matchup at 7 p.m. Monday.

“We aren’t going to change what we’re doing,” Forsythe said. “We’re just going through a slump right now and we’ve got to learn how to fight through that, and overcome those things as individuals and as a team.”