MOUNT VERNON — Jumping out to an early lead is usually a good sign for baseball teams. But, for the Fredericktown All-Stars, it wasn’t enough Tuesday night.
The Freddies scored twice in the top of the first inning, but watched as New Albany scored 11 straight to take control and roll to a 15-5 victory in the District tournament at Phillips Park.
“We jumped on them early. That’s what we had to do — get off to an early start. A couple of runs in the first as visitors is always big,” said Fredericktown coach Mike Steel.
Fredericktown got off to a quick start as Kohl Perkins led off the game with a single. He moved to second on a single by Tyler Cockrell, then scored after two wild pitches. Cockrell scored on a sacrifice fly by Devin Kessler.
But that’s when the Freddie rally ended. Brodhi Steel was thrown out at third after advancing on an error by the New Albany catcher and another out got the Eagles out of the jam.
New Albany answered right back in the bottom half of the inning. David Daly had a single, moved to second on an error, and then scored when James Tennenbaum smacked a home run.
“Tennenbaum’s home run really set the tone,” said New Albany coach Jason Trybus. “We kind of didn’t play our game in the top of the first. We did not throw strikes. But we had some good hits.”
The Eagle rally continues in the bottom of the first inning, as Caleb Lay smacked a three-run home run to stretch the lead to 5-2.
NA pitcher Jack Flaherty settled down in the second, mowing down the Freddies in order. The Eagle offense picked up right where it left off in the bottom of the second.
Another home run by Tennenbaum, this one a three-run shot, blew the game open. New Albany added three more on doubles by Matthew Trybus and Victor Chamberlain and a hit by Flaherty.
Fredericktown got one back in the top of the third. Perkins got a one-out walk, moved to second on a walk by Cockrell, then, following an error, scored on a wild pitch.
New Albany looked like it was going to put the game away when it scored three more in the bottom of the third. The big blow was a two-run single by Nate Glenn.
Fredericktown didn’t quit, rallying for two runs in the top of the fourth inning. Braxton McQueen led off with a walk moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a double by Erik Tenney. Two more wild pitches allowed Tenney to score.
“We laid it on the line for the kids. ‘Do you want to go home or dig deep?’ They found something they didn’t realize they had,” said Fredericktown coach John Singrey. “It was great to see the resilience of the men.”
New Albany invoked the run rule with a run in the bottom of the fourth. Tennenbaum walked, moved to third on a double by Matthew Trybus and scored on a single by Scott Mackenzie.
Perkins started on the mound for Fredericktown, allowing nine hits and one walk. Matthew Giffin followed, striking out two while allowing five hits and walking two.
“This was a good experience for us,” said Singrey. “We had two tough losses to two tough teams. It was learning experience. The mistakes we made we can learn from and use to our advantage.”
The Eagles will now face Southwest Licking, which beat Guernsey County, 11-1, in Tuesday’s second game. The game will be tonight at 6. Fredericktown bows out of the district tourney with the loss, but will play in the Coshocton Tournament beginning Friday.