Big first inning set tone in Herscher’s 17-5 win over Central

HERSCHER − After some shuffling on the schedule to work around the weather, the Herscher and Central baseball teams faced off on Friday.

Originally slated to be hosted by Central, the game was moved to Herscher where the Tigers were the visiting team on the scoreboard at their home field. They wasted no time in the top of the first, scoring eight runs in an eventual 17-5 win over the Comets in five innings.

Herscher improved to 11-1 overall with the win, their eighth in a row, while Central fell to 5-6 with the loss, which snapped a three-game winning streak.

Herscher head coach Eric Regez said that the hot start in the first inning was nice to see.

“In the first inning we had some good, timely hits and put some pressure on their defense,” he said. “Once you have a big lead like that, the game’s a little different in terms of your pitching and defense, and we were able to hang on after that.”

Gaige Brown and Tanner Jones kicked things off for the Tigers with back-to-back singles to open the game. Logan Egerton walked to load the bases, and all three runners came home to score on a double from Noah Brubaker.

The inning’s fourth run came on an error with one out and a sacrifice fly from nine-hole hitter Mason Roberts put the Tigers up 5-0. Brown came back up and was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Jones then worked a walk to make it 6-0. Egerton drove in two more runs with a single before Central’s Rocco Trevino induced an inning-ending flyout.

The Tigers scored another run in the second when Payten Young singled home Cam Baker, who had reached on an error. A Central error in the third helped set the table for four more Herscher runs and the Tigers’ one run in the fourth scored on an error. Herscher added three more runs in the fifth.

Trevino ended up allowing nine runs in two innings, only three of which were earned runs. Noah Vining pitched 2 ⅓ innings and allowed eight runs, only four earned, while striking out four batters.

Central head coach Brian Kohn said he thought his pitchers did solid work, but with five errors and a couple other misplays, the defense needed to be sharper.

“Defensively, we wasted a good outing,” he said. “I thought Rocco threw well, but there was some hard luck and some extra outs there. I thought Noah threw well, but again some extra outs, some bad luck and bad baseball plays on that one. … You can’t give good teams, you can’t give good programs, you can’t give good coaches extra outs.”

All five of the Comet runs came in the bottom of the fourth. They loaded the bases with no outs on a dropped third strike, a double and an error before a Kade LaFine single put the Comets on the board.

An Owen Wilder double drove in two more runs before an RBI groundout from Reece Boudreau made if 14-4. Another Herscher error allowed Wilder to score a fifth run before the inning came to an end.

LaFine was 2 for 2 with an RBI and a run while Wilder was 1 for 2 with two RBIs and a run.

Looking ahead, Kohn said he just wants to see his team, which is off to a 3-1 start in conference play, continue to compete.

“The guys on the roster, I want them to compete and just play hard,” he said. “Playing hard, being competitive, that’s contagious. We’ve just got to play hard and do the right things.”

Eleven different players recorded a hit for Herscher. Brown went 2 for 3 with three runs while Jones was 2 for 2 with two walks, an RBI and two runs. Egerton went 2 for 2 with a walk, three RBIs and two runs. Brubaker was 1 for 4 with four RBIs and also got the win on the mound. He allowed four hits and five runs, one earned, over four innings.

“We’re just trying to get better every day,” Regez said. “That’s one of our goals, and we don’t talk about specific goals in terms of record and beating certain teams, we just try to get better and try to improve every day.”