There were just six hits on Tuesday between Orange County and Louisa County on Tuesday night and the Lions got five of them. The Hornets got 1-hit by Tristan Snyder, but that one hit was an RBI double from Hornets senior Trevon Smith.
With Orange starter Bradley Hanner striking out 10 and getting a pair of big plays from his defense to get him out of two jams, the Hornets managed to endure a 1-hitter and come out with a 1-0 win.
“At the end of the day the Jefferson District is just one of the best in the state, hands down right now,” said Orange coach Dave Rabe. “(Snyder) threw his butt off and we couldn’t string anything together. They had more hits, we made errors and we still got the win. That’s a quality ball club and this should have been a 1-run game. And it’s just always nice to have your senior ace up there (in Hanner) where you know he can calm things down. He was definitely more efficient tonight than I’ve seen him in a long time.”
With Hanner and Snyder simply dealing back-and-forth, there were few opportunities to get on the board. Louisa got a leadoff single from Dakota Hall to start the second and put him in scoring position after an error. After Wayne Butler followed up with a single, the Hornets came up with their first of two huge defensive plays with a great throw from Will Dawson to get the runner at the plate. After another single and an error, the Lions had runners on third and second but Hanner escaped the jam with a strikeout and a ground out.
“With Hanner on the bump I was going to take chances trying to be aggresive,” said Louisa coach Kevin Fisher. “We tried to get a run when we could get a run and we put together a couple hits together there and maybe we could still be playing.”
The momentum of the second swung in the top of the third. Christian Amos reached on an error and after a sacrifice bunt from Allen Seeley, Amos was in scoring positions. Two batters later, Smith hit a double to the gap and while he picked up the RBI by plating Amos, the Lions were able to get out of the inning with a tag after Smith was caught between third and second.
“It’s was 2-0 count and (Snyder) was trying to push me over the plate and with an open gap in center I hit it where it was,” Smith said.
Louisa threatened two more times. First in the bottom of the fourth, Butler doubled on a deep ball to centerfield but Smith hit relay man Canon Davies who subsequently gunned down Butler heading to third. Then the in the bottom of the sixth, things got interesting again. Aaron Szalankiewicz started things with a 1-out single and reached third strikeout and a passed ball. But Hanner picked up a strikeout to follow to again get out unharmed.
“You know when he’s on the mound that anything is possible, that amazing things can happen,” Smith said.
The Lions hit a pair of pop flies to right field in the top of the seventh, and fittingly enough, Hanner ended the game with his 10 strikeout. The senior gave up five hits and two walks but threw just 84 pitches over seven innings.
“Really though, this game comes down to we’re still tied up or we lose if we don’t make those two relay plays from the outfield to get those big outs,” Rabe said. “Those two plays sealed the game from us, and you don’t want to — you can’t take away anything from Bradley the way he pitched. But those two plays… you win and lose as a team. It’s something you practice and practice and when you see it happen in a game, as a coach, it just makes you happy.”
While Snyder was saddled with the loss, he struck out six batters, issued no walks and gave up just one hit. Butler was the only batter for with multiple hits. He finished 2-for-3.
“(Snyder) was just getting ahead throwing strikes,” Fisher said. “He’s got such a strong arm, it’s going to be interesting to see what happens to him going down the road.”
