Independence managed to split with Porter Ridge, rebounding from Tuesday’s 10-5 loss at Indy. The Patriots behind the seven impressive innings pitched by Jonathan “JT” Todaro took the conference victory 6-3.
Jonathan went the distance for the Patriots facing 29 batters in seven innings. He gave up three runs on three hits striking out six and walked two. Coach Skinner said, “Jonathan was just awesome on the mound.”
Porter Ridge’s Connor Smith scored in the bottom of the second inning. Smith doubled off the left field wall and came home on a Tanner Sweatt RBI to make the score 1-0 with the Pirates on top.
The Patriots answered in the top of the third. Ben Hagan led off with a single to center followed by Drew Harris reaching on an infield hit. CJ Brown loaded the bases with a single to center. With the bases loaded and Noah Howie at the plate, Coach Skinner called for a hit and run. Hagan started home on the pitch, and Howie hit a hard shot to the outfield scoring Hagan and moving the runners over.
Brandon Moser followed and was awarded first after being hit by a pitch which scored Harris from third. With two runs in, Raja Milton came to the plate and picked up two RBIs on a single to center field to give Indy the lead 4-1.
In the bottom half of the inning, Porte Ridge had a runner at third with no outs. The Patriots’ defense did not allow the runner to go home. Todaro struck out the next two batters. Indy finished the inning on a ground ball to third baseman Brandon Moser, who made the throw to Tyson Clawson for the third out stranding the runner at third.
Indy added another run in the top of the fourth. Drew Harris reached on a error and stole second. Bryson Jusko picked up the RBI with a single to center to increase Indy’s lead 5-1.
The Patriots scored their final run in the top of the sixth. CJ Brown doubled off the center field wall and moved to third on a Bryson Jusko sacrifice bunt. Brown scored on a passed ball giving Indy a 6-1 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Patriots committed two errors allowing Porter Ridge to pick up a run cutting Indy’s lead to 6-2.
The Pirates scored their third run in the bottom on the seventh. Celeb Malinowsky hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Porter Ridge’s final run to make the score 6-3.
Indy’s head Coach Skinner said, “This was a big time win for us. We need that win. We challenged our players after the game at Indy. We were in that game until the last inning. At our place they capitalized on our mistakes and today we capitalized on their mistakes. Our defense played well and Jonathan was just awesome on the mound.
You know what you are going to get from Coach Cooke and the Porter Ridge team. They are going to fight hard and they did. Its kinda of a bitter sweet win, but I’m proud of our team. The guys played hard, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Independence 004 101 0 – 6
Porter Ridge 010 001 1 – 3
