Seventh-inning miscues aid Greenfield against Wayne Christian

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on April 14, 2015 1:49 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

Wayne Christian's players gathered down the right-field line behind first base and listened as assistant baseball coach Lee Price talk about what had just transpired on the field.

On occasion, the players glanced toward the scoreboard.

Others looked down.

A few made eye contact with Price.

But they felt the sting of this loss -- their second consecutive one-run decision within a four-day stretch. Three seventh-inning errors helped Greenfield push across the game-winning run and emerge victorious, 4-3, on Monday evening.

"We played much better than we played them the first of the year when they shut us out," Price said. "We came into this (game), played loose and played good. We kept battling and that's what we hadn't done against them before ... hadn't done it against several teams.

"We kind of give up once we get down, but we've tried to hammer away and get runs any way we could."

Runs were a premium in this meeting compared to the Knights' mercy-rule shutout victory over the Eagles on March 23. Right-handers Ted Suggs (Wayne Christian) and Jeff Hagan (Greenfield) staged a pitching duel and each turned in a complete-game effort.

Suggs threw 114 pitches, allowed four runs (three earned) on nine hits and sat down seven Greenfield batters on strikeouts in his second straight complete game. Hagan held the Eagles to three runs (all earned) on four hits and three walks. He logged nine strikeouts.

Greenfield (10-3 overall) seized a 1-0 lead on Jake Taylor's RBI single in the top half of the first inning after Isaiah White laced a fastball up the middle. Wayne Christian answered as Tyler Mozingo deposited a Hagan offering over the right center-field fence to put the Eagles in front, 2-1.

It was Mozingo's second homer in as many games.

The Knights knotted the game at 2-2 and moved ahead 3-2 on Taylor's second RBI single of the night in the top of the fourth. Hunter Burt's lead-off triple and Holden Foster's groundout to first allowed Wayne Christian to tie the game again -- this time at 3-all.

"Hunter has been in a slump," Price said. "I hope that gives him some confidence. We moved him to the top of the lineup."

Tied at 3-3 through 5 1/2 innings, Mozingo started the Eagles' sixth with a single past the shortstop. Tanner Rose attempted a bunt and Hagan's throw plunked him in the back, but Rose was rule out for being outside the running lane in fair territory.

"I was over there celebrating because I thought Tyler was coming to third and (thinking) we're good now," Price said. "But Tanner wasn't on first and I 'thought where's he at?' and I couldn't see the play at first from where I was standing."

Greenfield concluded the inning with a 6-4-3 double play.

In the top half of the seventh, Dwayna Sutton reached on an error. Suggs kept a watchful eye on Sutton, but an errant throw on a pickoff attempt allowed Sutton to reach third.

Sutton scored the game-winning run two-out infield error.

"(Our shortstop) waited back on the ball and we tell them in practice you've got to charge that even though it's a hard hit, you've got to get it off that grass especially on our field," Price said.