Plover Extends Stay in Alton
Photo credit: Jim Pliner
The Plover Black Sox managed to stave off elimination from the American Legion Great Lakes Regional with a 6-5 comeback win over Paducah, Kentucky on Thursday.
Both teams lost their tournament opener, making this matchup an elimination game. Plover was defeated by Elgin, Illinois on Wednesday night, while Paducah fell to Midland, Michigan in the first game of the regional.
The Black Sox took an early lead over the Kentucky state champions in the bottom of the 1st inning thanks to an RBI single from Matt McHugh. They tacked on two more runs in the 4th on the back of an RBI groundout by Jon Barnes and an RBI single by Tyler Nalbach to take a 3-0 lead.
Plover pitcher Alex Lee surrendered a fair few hits to Paducah during his time on the mound, but managed to keep them off the board until the 7th inning. In the top of the frame, Paducah scored their first run on a wild pitch and Clay Newton hit a 2 RBI single to tie the game later in the inning.
Travis Crouch gave Paducah the lead in the top of the 8th inning with a two run home run off of Plover reliever Nick Schroeder.
Headed to the bottom of the 9th, the premise was simple. Plover needed to score at least two runs or their fantastic season would come to an end.
Nalbach got things started with a single to lead off the inning, Cal Giese drew a walk, and Alex Slowey was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out. DJ Drohner managed to draw a walk in the ensuing at bat to plate a run and make the score 5-4. Matt McHugh hit a clutch single in the next at bat to bring Giese in to score and tie the game. Finally, Keegan Johnston lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to drive in the winning run and send the Kentucky champions packing.
Lee did yeoman’s work on the mound for the Black Sox. He pitched seven innings and allowed just three runs on ten hits and eight strikeouts. Schroeder earned the win in two innings of relief. Nalbach led Plover at the plate with a 2-for-5 performance with an RBI and a run scored.
Plover is now 1-1 at the Great Lakes Regional, and they will play in another elimination game tomorrow against either in-state foes Madison or Alton, Illinois.
