When the final strike went across the plate, all Curtlan George could do was throw his hands in the air in enjoyment. His Pigeon Hill Farms team had finally snapped a three-game losing streak in the boys 9-10 junior league.
Pigeon Hill Farms started an exciting night of baseball at Sam Martin Field Tuesday night with a 10-6 victory over Prater’s BBQ. In the nightcap, Quality Mold surged to the top of the league standings following a 9-0 shutout against Erie Insurance.
Pigeon Hill Farms (2-3) had struggled in its previous three outings, but Dominique Kirby’s hitting and the pitching of George and Kyle Johnson helped the team bounce back in a big way.
After falling behind 3-0 early, Kirby helped Pigeon Hill Farms rally in the bottom of the second with a RBI single following a lead-off hit by Devin Martin. Johnson followed with a two-run triple that scored Kirby and Kilynn King, who walked in the second inning.
Just like that, Pigeon Hill Farms had tied the game at 3-3 and was just getting started.
Layne Roberts momentarily gave Prater’s BBQ the lead back when he tripled to score Taylor Hillis in the top of the third. Roberts would score on a groundout by Rance McBride to make it 5-3, but Pigeon Hill Farms came back to take the lead for good in the bottom of the third.
Singles by Riley Morton and Nate Simmons started the third-inning rally by Pigeon Hill Farms. Martin fallowed by drawing a walk to bring up Kirby with a chance to break the game open. Kirby delivered in a big way as his double cleared the bases and gave Pigeon Hill Farms its first lead at 6-5. Dean Marquez’s RBI single later in the inning made it 7-5.
Jake Rains sliced the lead in half in the top of the fourth when his single off George – who entered in the top of the fourth to take over for Johnson – scored Collin Panter. George was able to escape a jam when he forced an inning-ending groundout with runners on second and third.
Braden Marcum and Simmons added insurance runs for Pigeon Hill Farms with RBI singles in the bottom of the fourth inning. Going into the fifth inning, Pigeon Hill Farms led by four.
George made sure that lead stood up by forcing back-to-back groundouts before striking out Christopher Veach for the final out. It helped George earn a two-inning save while Johnson got the win by pitching the first three innings and striking out two. Kirby and Simmons had two hits each to lead Pigeon Hill Farms while Johnson, Marcum, Morton, Martin and Marquez added one hit apiece.
Rains took the loss for Prater’s BBQ, which fell to 2-3 this season. Roberts, Rains, Hillis and Panter all had one hit each in the loss.
In game two, Kendall Patrick added another dominant pitching performance to his growing legacy in the boys junior league.
Patrick threw his second no-hitter of the season while striking out 14 batters in Quality Mold’s big shutout victory over Erie Insurance.
Both teams entered the game at 3-1, but Quality Mold wasn’t losing with Patrick throwing smoke on the mound. Patrick, who struck out 17 batters while throwing a no-hitter earlier this season, struck out seven of the first eight batters he faced and wouldn’t allow a runner to reach base until Sawyer Seymour drew a walk in the fourth inning.
Patrick would walk the bases loaded in the fourth inning, but he sit down Hagan Stewart on a pay-off pitch to end the rally. Patrick went on to strike out the side in the fifth inning and added two more Ks in the sixth inning.
While Patrick was rolling on the mound, Quality Mold scored the majority of its runs in the first inning.
Ethan Melton started the spurt with a lead-off single while Briley Moore, Chance Hunter and Jathan Bogle added RBI singles as Quality Mold took an early 4-0 lead. Cooper Thurman added a RBI single in the third inning to make it 5-0. Patrick and Hunter pushed the lead to seven with RBI singles in the fourth inning before Moore added an exclamation point with a two-run triple in the sixth inning.
Melton, Hunter and Moore paced the Quality Mold offense with three hits each. Patrick added two hits while Thurman, Bogle and Austin Connors finished with one hit apiece.