MTZ baseball loses three last week

By BLAKE FAITH
Staff Writer

The Mt. Zion baseball team lost three games last week with one loss coming to Teutopolis and the other two in an Apollo conference doubleheader against Mattoon.

In the first game of the doubleheader against Mattoon, the Braves started Robert Chausse on the mound. Chausse retired his first six batters and threw two shutout innings to start the game.

In the bottom of the second, the Braves got one of their only scoring opportunities in the first game. Gavin McInerney led off the inning with a single to the right-field gap. Drew Hittmeier got him to second on a sacrifice bunt. Chase McInerny stepped to the plate and got a single that would later result in the brothers landing on second and third base.

Green Wave pitcher Jackson Helms struck out Chausse and then got Evan Hamrick to groundout to end the inning with a score of 0-0.

The Green Wave offense ignited when Logan MacDonald got on base off an error. Luke Perry then advanced the runner on a sacrifice bunt. MacDonald scored later in the inning to give the Green Wave a 1-0 lead.

The next three innings were shutout innings between Chausse and Helms. In the top of the seventh inning, the Green Wave were down to their last out when MacDonald hit a two-RBI double to give the Green Wave a 3-0 lead.

Hittmeier led off for the Braves in the seventh inning and hit a double. Chase McInerny struck out looking and then Hittmeier was caught stealing third base. Chausee flew out to the Green Wave centerfielder to result in a 3-0 Braves’ loss.

“I thought we pitched well enough to win both games today, but offensively we didn’t get the job done,” Head coach J.D. Arnold said. “We took too many strikes at the plate today, so we will need to be more aggressive in our at bats next week.”

The Braves fall to 6-8 overall and 3-3 in conference play this season. This week they will face Pleasant Plains on the road and Lincoln at home in a Saturday Apollo conference doubleheader.