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Tigers blanked by Smith-Cotton, 6-0
The early-season theme of offensive woes and defensive lapses continued for the Nevada Tigers Tuesday evening, resulting in a 6-0 non-conference loss to visiting Smith-Cotton High School at Lyons Stadium.
The loss drops Nevada to 0-4 overall.
Making his first pitching start of the season, Nevada senior Noah Cheaney managed to wiggle out of a first-inning jam, but not before yielding an RBI-single to center off the bat of Brody Kindle.
Brandon Kindle, leading off the top of the second, was hit-by a pitch, and came around to score on Cheaney’s ball-four wild pitch, as Smith-Cotton led, 2-0.
Cheaney recorded two quick outs to open the third, but then encountered major turbulence as a walk, error, and single loaded the bases.
Smith-Cotton (2-1) capitalized as Colin Polley’s line-smash, just over the out-stretched glove of second baseman Lane McNeley, plated a pair of runs. The two-out rally increased Smith-Cotton’s advantage to 4-0.
Smith-Cotton starting pitcher Hayden Ellis was sharp. He surrendered a leadoff single to Grant Miller in the bottom of the first, and was nearly untouchable from that point on. Ellis hit his stride in the third, fanning the Nevada side in order.
Smith-Cotton’s advantage swelled to 5-0 in the fourth, courtesy of first baseman Aaron Hughes’ RBI-double to deep left field.
Nevada’s best opportunity to get on the board came in the home-half of the fourth. Miller led off the frame with a hard-hit single to right, and advanced all the way to third on a two-base throwing error. The heart of Nevada’s order followed with a fly out to shallow center, and consecutive groundouts to conclude the inning, stranding Miller 90-feet from home.
With runners on the corners in the top of the sixth, Smith-Cotton executed a successful double-steal. Nevada catcher Blake Pryor fired to second, resulting in the runner on third darting home and scoring, accounting for the final 6-0 margin.
Nevada was held to three hits on the evening. Ellis yielded two hits, while striking out four over five scoreless frames of work en route to the pitching victory. In relief Brody Kindle and Hughes recorded two dominant innings of work, striking out four of Nevada’s final six batters. The lanky Hughes also concluded 2-for-4 with an RBI.
For Nevada, Cheaney (0-1) took the loss, but pitched well. Tossing 91 pitches over the course of six innings, Cheaney allowed two earned runs on six hits, but was unable to overcome four Tiger errors.
“I thought Noah did a good job on the mound,” said Nevada head coach Danny Penn. “Numerous times he got a couple quick outs in an inning, and made some good pitches that should have (resulted) in the third out. But we just weren’t able to make the plays behind him.”
Despite Ellis’ masterful performance, Penn said he took away some positives from his club’s approach at the dish.
“Early in the game we had some good swings, some loud outs on some balls we hit hard right at people,” began Penn. “But then, as the game progressed, it looked like we lost our confidence at the plate. We did a poor job of having a plan when we stepped in the batters box. I thought we got ourselves out on ‘pitchers’ pitches’ too many times. And I thought our confidence level dropped as the game progressed. We needed to have that plan, knowing what pitch we were looking for, and making it happen.”
Penn said he addressed areas, such as lack of confidence, during his postgame pep-talk.
“Just making sure guys are ready for the ball to be hit to them,” said Penn. “And, when the ball is hit to them, that they’re confident in their ability to make the play. So, just a lot of learning experiences tonight, and areas to improve.”
Up next
In search of their first victory, Nevada returns to the diamond Thursday, for a non-conference clash with Carl Junction (1-3).
First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m. from Lyons Stadium.
See a future edition for all the latest