After having lost a blowout in their previous game against Canfield, Heartland Christian was happy to have turned things around on Friday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against the Columbiana Clippers and snuck past 11-9. This was payback for Heartland Christian, who suffered an 8-7 defeat the last time these two teams met.
The team relied heavily on Jake Walker, who scored two runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-4. Another player making a difference was Tyler Rarick, who scored a run and stole two bases while going 2-for-3.
On Columbiana's side, Anthony Hall put in work no matter where he played. He tossed five innings while giving up three earned (and two unearned) runs off six hits. Hall was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-3. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last four times he's played.
In other batting news, Alex Eusebio and Ian Less did some serious damage despite the final result: Eusebio scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4, while Less went 2-for-5 with two runs and a triple. Dylan Hogan was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing a base.
Even though they lost, Columbiana didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with eight strikeouts. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Heartland Christian only tossed four.
Heartland Christian's victory bumped their record up to 8-10. As for Columbiana, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 14-9.
Heartland Christian is on the road again on Saturday to play John F. Kennedy Catholic at 11:00 a.m. John F. Kennedy Catholic will roll in looking for their 12th straight win, something Heartland Christian surely won't give up without a fight. As for Columbiana, they will head out on the road to square off against Howland at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. Columbiana is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.5 runs per game this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
