Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Abell Brings Their "A" Game to Defeat JR's

Jack Abell played their best game by far of the year to defeat a very strong JR's team from Frostburg at Fireman's Field by a score of 6-4.

Abell jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after Nate Condor hit a 2 out triple and stole home for the second time this year. JR's tied it up in the third with a single and a couple of stolen bases followed by a groundout. JA jumped ahead in the bottom of the third, highlighted by a Trenton Swan triple and a Colton Sivic double. But JR's strung together a couple of doubles and a single of their own in the top of the 4th to tie the game up again. But in the fifth, a couple of walks to Logan O'Brian and Darin O'Brian, followed up by another big hit from Swan put Abell ahead for good. There were 2 hits from both Nate Condor and Trenton Swan, 3 hits from Colton Sivic and a hit from Logan O'Brian.

But it was the strong pitching from Chad Broadway and a good defensive effort which led to the win. Broadway pitched all 6 innings in just less than 85 pitches. He only gave up two walks. JR's hit the ball often, getting 6 hits. But strong defense from Abell was the key. The Sivic (2nd base) to Sivic (1st) combo was very strong, including a 3-4-3 putout late in the game.

This was the best game that Abell played all year. The JR's team is very strong, with good hitting, pitching, and defense. Abell excelled at all parts of the game and played well as a team. They play again Thursday against Barrelleville.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Abell Works Overtime for Win

Jack Abell Baseball opened the 2009 season with a hard fought 7-5 win over the PVAA Rangers in 7 innings.

Abell broke out on top in the first inning. After Chad Broadway got on base, Nate Condor drove him home with a triple. Colton Sivic followed with a triple of his own and was driven in by his brother Caleb Sivic. In the second inning, Trenton Swan hit a Home run over the right field fence with Josh Riggs on board and JA had 5 runs on the board in two innings But the Rangers struck back quickly with a run in the bottom of the first and three in the bottom of the 2nd as Abell’s fielding woes continued. Nate Condor came on in the second inning and shut down Ranger offense, allowing 1 unearned run over 6 innings with only 1 hit and 1 walk. Nate had good command of his pitches; only one batted ball reached the outfield against JA pitching.

Abell plowed ahead in the top of the 7th with a lead off hit by Swan, his second hit of the game. Swan was eventually thrown out at the plate, but Broadway stole home to take the lead and Tyler Hotchkiss drove a ball to deep center to bring Nate Condor home with the second run of the extra inning. Condor closed out the game by striking out the side in the 7th as Abell picks up their first win.

JA will need to improve their defense as the season goes forward, but they found a way to win and head into the weekend at 1-0

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Pepsi Tournament Update

Jack Abell played Friday night against a tough Uniform Village team in their second game of the Pepsi tournament Friday night, losing 7-6 after making a nice comeback against a tough team.

Abells defense struggled early again, giving up an unearned run in the first, but managed to tie the game on some aggressive base running by Trenton Swan. After a scoreless second innning, UV put together several good hits to score three runs and take a lead. They added two more in the fourth before Abell mounted a late game comeback Hits by Colton and Caleb Sivic brought a run in as the UV pitching began to struggle with control. Several walks pushed across another run, then some 6th inning hustling brought home a few more runs as Swan and Broadway had 6th inning RBI's. UV though had the heart of the lineup up in the bottom of the 6th inning and put together two hits to take the win. Still, it was a much better effort for Abell as they prepare for the regular season.

Abell went right back to the field on Saturday morning to take on Perma Seal. A three run blast by Perma Seals first baseman put them up 3-0 and they never looked back. Abell cut the lead to 6-3 in the fifth nd had the heart of the line up but good pitching by PS shut down JA. Dispite the loss, it as probably the best game the JA played as they didn't commit any errors ; additionally, nearly every Abell batter put the ball in play. Good fielding by the PS defense kept JA off of the basepaths. Trenton Swan had a triple for JA and both Nate Condor and Chad Broadway had two hits each.

Abell's season opens up Monday against Barrellville.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Abell Returns to Action for 09

The Jack Abell baseball team began the new year where they left off in 2008--with a win.

Abell opened up the 09 season with a new cast of players as they started play in the Pepsi tournament in Cresaptown against last year's runner up- Farraday Post. Although Abell pulled out an 11-8 victory in 7 innings, it was a very sloppy win that Abell must improve on.

Nate Condor started on the mound for Abell and although he gave up just one hit in three innings, Farraday scored 4 runs as Abell made several errors in the field. Fortunatley, Abell hit the ball well with 9 total hits. With two outs in the first, Condor beat out an infield hit and was driven home on a Colton Sivic double. Although JA fell behind after one inning, they rallied for runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings to take an 8-4 lead. Colton Sivic was huge with bat all day as he went 4-4, with two doubles and two triples. Caleb Sivic had a big hit in his first game for the majors, driving in a run. All 9 Abell players scored. Still, Farrady scored 3 runs in the fifth and one in the sixth to tie. Abell scored three runs in the top of the 7th on hits by Condor and Sivic after a walk to Chad Broadway. Sivic came on to shut down Farrady in the 7th to preserve the win for JA.

If Abell is to advance though, they'll need to play much better defense than they did. Good hitting and aggressive base running kept them in the game. They hope to improve when they play again next Wednesday.