Something about hitting in the top of the first inning on their home field agreed with Madison County obviously. It at least agreed with J.P. Utz.
With patience at the plate and an Utz grand slam to left field, Madison jumped out to a huge lead Wednesday night against William Monroe while playing as the away team in Madison.
Then, by escaping jam after jam, they held on tight and grabbed a 7-6 win over the Dragons, who couldn’t overcome a rough first inning and stranded nine runners on the night. Monroe played as the home team at the Mountaineers’ field as they will for all their home games this year while the school system rebuilds the Dragons’ home field.
Utz, who’s grand slam put the Mountaineers up 4-0 in the first inning, kickstarted a 7-run frame. After Utz’s blast, Monroe’s Ryan Morris struggled to locate pitches and walked five of the next six runners.
“We like to score first — we don’t plan on that many, but we like to score first,” said Madison coach Tom Butterworth. “It’s nice to get seven.”
That advantage was critical when Utz took over late in the game on the mound and managed to hold Monroe in check after a four-run fifth pulled the Dragons within a run. Utz surrendered one hit in the seventh, a two-out single by Dustin Forloines. He struck out two in that final inning to give Madison the victory.
“I just took a deep breath, went to my chill zone and stayed relaxed the whole time,” Utz said.
Taylor was solid on the mound for the Mountaineers escaping a bases loaded jam in the first inning with a strikeout and a groundout.
Morris bounced back from the frustrating first inning on the mound to rip a two-run double in the fourth that gave Monroe a chance. Jacob Hirtz followed two at-bats later by cracking a two-run double of his own that he tried to stretch into a triple but was gunned down.
“I did a poor job coaching tonight and we did a poor job playing tonight,” said Monroe coach Mike Maynard. “We could not come up with that big hit at the right time. Hopefully this will make some guys open their eyes.”
Madison failed to extend the lead a couple of times too as both teams left a number of runners on base in the later innings. Lamar Nelson held the Mountaineers off the board in relief.
“Lamar Nelson has guts — he kept us in the game,” Maynard said.
Logan Forloines had an RBI single in the fourth that started Monroe’s rally and a sacrifice RBI groundout in the first. He also preserved a chance for the Dragons by gunning down two Madison baserunners in the top of the seventh inning.
