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Tigers trounce Sherwood away from home
The Nevada Tigers baseball team drilled Sherwood 16-9, Wednesday on the road. With the victory, Nevada improved to 7-11.
"I thought we did an OK job offensively," Nevada coach Danny Penn said. "Putting up 16 runs and calling it just 'OK' may sound greedy, but we left 12 runners on base over seven offensive innings.
"We had some balance in our lineup, with Tyler Ketterman, Andy Heathman, Jacob Johnson, and Derek O'Dell having nice days offensively.
The Tigers pounced early, as first baseman Jacob Johnson's 3-run home run highlighted a six-run first inning.
"Tyler and Andy had 3-hit games while Jacob and Derek supplied our power."
O'Dell picked up the win, pitching 4-plus innings, while yielding 11 hits and 9 earned runs. O'Dell struck out 3 and walked 2.
" Derek did a nice job early," Penn said. "He's been working very hard on his mechanics and getting back to throwing downhill. His first three innings looked very good. I think a combination of tiring and a couple of 'questionable' umpiring calls in the field led to him struggling later in the game.
"There was a very bad no-call on a tag ---- and Sherwood went on to score 5 runs that inning, that never should have had the chance to score.
"He left a couple of balls up in the zone, and their hitters took advantage of it and hit the ball out of the park."
Tigers freshman Braeden Hinton came on in relief of O'Dell, going 2 and 2/3 scoreless inning, while fanning 3 and walking 2.
Penn said he was pleased with Hinton's performance.
"Braeden came in and did a great job of locating down in the strike zone and letting his defense make plays behind him," Penn said.
Despite some struggles on the mound, O'Dell had a big performance at the plate, crushing two solo home runs.
"Derek did a great job of not letting his frustrations on the mound affect him at the plate," Penn said. "He had some great swings, as evidenced by his two home runs.
"It was a small field, but all three of our home runs were well-hit balls. After a few very shaky and frustrating defensive games, I was pleased with the way we fielded balls today, and the fact that we made the plays behind our pitcher."
For Nevada offensively, O'Dell was 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs, and 2 runs; Andy Heathman was 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs. Two of Heathman's hits were doubles.
Shortstop Tyler Ketterman was 3-for-3 with an RBI, double and triple; freshman second baseman Branden Harder was 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs, and 2 runs scored; catcher Brett Mitchell was 1-for-3 with 2 runs; freshman third baseman Braeden Hinton was 1-for-5, senior center fielder Tanner Handly was 1-for-5 with 2 runs and an RBI.
Designated hitter Trey Pritchett was 0-for-4 with a run and RBI.
Upcoming schedule
* 5-1: at St. Pius X
* 5-4: at Clinton
* 5-5: at Fort Scott
* 5-8: at Smith-Cotton
* 5-11: O'Hara at Lyons Stadium
* West Central Conference Tournament date and times: TBA.
Recap
Check Saturday's paper for full coverage of Nevada's Thursday afternoon home contest against the Clinton Cardinals ---- including pictures from the game and comments from Danny Penn.