EATON — Eaton’s varsity baseball team has used several big offensive innings to win three of four games so far this season. The Eagles have scored five or more runs in at least one inning in each of their wins.
Eaton claimed victories over Franklin and Oakwood this past week. They also suffered their first and only loss of the season, also against Oakwood. The Eagles are now 3-1 on the season.
Eaton used an eight-run inning to defeat Franklin on Monday, April 2. The Eagles scored eight runs in the top of the fifth to take control of the game. They entered the inning with a 1-0 lead. Franklin scored their only runs of the game in the bottom of the seventh to make the final, 9-3.
Brandon Miller and Ryan Venable both had two hits in the game. Each drove in one run and scored twice. Owen Baumann and Jordan Turner each had two runs batted in.
After dropping the first of back-to-back games against Oakwood on Thursday, the Eagles bounced back to win in game two on Friday.
Eaton came up with a pair of big innings in that win. The Eagles trailed 2-1 going into the bottom half of the fourth inning, but got the offense on track. Eaton scored six times to take the lead, 7-2.
Oakwood came back with four runs in the top of the fifth to pull within one run, 7-6. But Eaton responded with five in the bottom of the fifth to regain the lead. The game was called early due to weather conditions, with Eaton claiming a 12-6 win.
“I was really proud of how our guys bounced back tonight, after a tough loss last night,” Flanagan said after the win on Friday. “It is tough to turn around and play the same team two days in a row. We showed a lot of character and grit by coming back and getting the win tonight.
“Owen Baumann had a gutsy performance tonight, going four and a third innings and keeping us in the ball game. Overall, it was a great team win. We had some timely hitting that helped us take advantage of a few opportunities.”
The two wins to start and end the week, came on both sides of the teams only loss. Oakwood scored four runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to break open a close game. The Lumberjacks led 3-2 going into the bottom of the fifth.
“Ryan Venable threw well enough to win (on Thursday), keeping us in the ballgame for four innings. We just could not get that big hit that would get us rolling. Oakwood played well though and we just did not come out on the winning side.”
“We will try to keep the ball rolling. Oakwood was a very good team, but we have a lot of season left.” Flanagan said. “The guys are playing with a lot of heart right now and are very scrappy. If we can continue to do the little things, we will compete and give ourselves a chance to win.”
Eaton was scheduled to host Brookville on Monday, April 9, and then play the Blue Devils on the road on Tuesday. They are scheduled to travel to Monroe on Friday and Kenton Ridge on Saturday.
