Indians overcome errors in 6-3 victory

EAST COWETA 6 CALLAWAY 3

SHARPSBURG-Bryce Gemmel went 3-for-4 at the plate while three pitchers combined to allow six hits Thursday night as the East Coweta Indians defeated the Callaway Cavaliers 6-3 despite committing six errors in the field.

The victory improves the Indians overall record to 7-0 on the season while the Cavaliers fell to 5-3.

Defense would hurt the Indians intially as the Cavaliers scored in the top of the first inning as Hunter Heath reached on an infield error, advanced to second on a single by Chase Freeman and scored when a throw on a sacrifice bunt went into right field.

The Indians took the lead in the bottom of the second inning courtesy of the Cavaliers defense as an infield errors extended the frame.

Matthew Meyer and Travis Jones reached on one out singles  and after Cavaliers starting pitcher Nick O'Berry recorded a strikeout, Tim Manning reached on an error by the second baseman that loaded the bases.

A walk to Cameron Smith brought home Meyer with the tying run then Gemmel followed with a single to right that scored courtesy runner Jordan Lewis and Manning to give the Indians a 3-1 lead.

The two-run cushion was enough for Indians starter Austin Bellamy who pitched a solid game in four and two-third innings until he surrendered a single to Heath and a double to Chase Freeman and walked Kane Keith to load the bases.

Bellamy, who recorded six strikeouts and allowed five hits during his start, was replaced on the hill by Meyer who managed to stop the rally Perry Keith hit a ground ball to Manning at second who flipped the ball to travis Williams at shortstop to end the inning.

Meanwhile, O'Berry remained on mound for the Cavaliers despite throwing 100 pitches through the first four frames but finally met his end in the bottom of the fifth inning as the Indians scored three runs to increase their lead to 6-1.

Gemmel led off with his third hit of the game by singling to right and moving to second on a wild pitch before moving to third when Cole Antman grounded out.

After Jonathan Banks reached on a walk, Geremy Walton followed with a double down the third base that brought Gemmel home and moved Banks to third.

A wild pitch by O'Berry scored Banks and moved Walton to third before Banks reached on a walk and O'Berry was lifted from the game aftyer throwing 121 pitches.

After the pitching change, Walton scored the final run of the game for the Indians when Walton scored from third on a sacrifice fly to center field by Jones.

After getting the Indians out of a mess in the top of the fifth inning, Meyer pitched well in the top of the sixth despite Cody Mimbs scoring an unearned run on a single by O'Berry that cut the margin to 6-2.

Antmann took over for Meyer in the top of the seventh inning but ran into trouble early as Freeman reached on an infield error and took second on an errant pickoff throw by the pitcher.

Kane Keith reached on a walk but Perry Keith followed with a ground ball to Meyer who had returned to first base and threw a strike to Williams at short stop for a forceout.

Terry Craft single to left to score Freeman and cut the deficit to 6-3 but Antmann recovered to retire the next two batters on strikeouts to end the contest.

The Indians will host the Luella Lions Monday evening at 5;30 in a makeup game that was rained out on March 11. The two teams met on March 6 with the Indians escaping with an 8-6 eight inning win.