BASEBALL: Avon stays perfect after sweep

By STEVE WALKER
swalker@MorningJournal.com

AVON LAKE — The Eagles have struggled to hit and score runs in their last couple games, but have been lucky enough to survive with a pair of one-run wins to stay perfect.

On Saturday, Avon was able to get its bats going again and got solid pitching in its doubleheader sweep of Avon Lake, winning games 4-2 and 10-2 to stay perfect and improve to 15-0 overall. Avon Lake fell to 7-7.

In the first game, Avon Lake used a Luke Latsko two-run double that scored David Winkel and Brad Hamilton in the first inning to snag a 2-0 lead. However, the Shoremen were stifled the rest of the way by starter Nick Lee and Anders Mahon, who combined to strike out seven batters and allow just two more hits. Mahon went the last three innings to pick up a save.

Austin Bevins provided the offensive punch, going 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs, including the game-winner. His two-run double in the fourth inning scored Joel Yeagley and Ryan Rogers to give Avon a 3-2 lead and eventual win.

“We had a big talk about hitting (on Friday) and a lot of stuff that the coaches told me helped,” Bevins said. “I had a really long swing so I shortened it and I was more patient than usual. That helped out a lot.

“We love beating Avon Lake in anything. It was great to beat them. It feels good to be the only undefeated team in the area. Offense is definitely a big part. They always say defense wins championships, but you also got to have offense to win.”

In the second game, Avon jumped on Avon Lake with a seven-run second inning. The Eagles batted around and scored seven runs on four hits. They were also helped by four Avon Lake errors.

“Take that inning away, and they’re both two well played games with two very close scores,” Avon Lake head coach Kevin Marlow said. “If we were able to just field our positions. For some reason, we had trouble fielding bunts off the mound. We had three opportunities to do it and we missed on all three. That was a little frustrating. We were still fighting until the end, but we put ourselves into too big of a hole.”

The big inning was fueled by an RBI single by Yeagley, who then went to second on an error and then scampered home on another throwing error by catcher Brandon Dillon. That made it 7-0. Bevins also added an RBI single and four unearned runs were scored — all on Avon Lake errors.

“I was a little disappointed the way we came out, we came out flat,” Marlow said. “We started hitting some balls hard, but unfortunately it was too little too late. We needed to play the whole game and we didn’t.”

Yeagley started the second game and took a no-hitter into the fourth inning before allowing a double to Latsko. The hit was the only one Yeagley allowed and he went five innings, while striking out five.

“When you’re pitching, it’s easy to stay warm,” Yeagley said. “I just had to focus on getting ahead, throwing a lot of first-pitch strikes. I had a good change-up and good curve ball today. It kept the hitters off balanced. We played good defense too.”

At the plate, Yeagley almost hit two home runs over the fence, but the wind carried them foul. He ended up going 2-for-3 with two RBIs, including a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning.

“The last couple games, I haven’t been hitting too well,” Yeagley said. “Our whole team has gotten back in the cage for a couple of practices in a row, taking a good solid hour of BP. We came out ready to play well. We knew Avon Lake was a decent team and we wanted to keep our undefeated season going.

“A lot of people think the rivalry (between Avon and Avon Lake) is just football. It was nice to come out here and take two on their field.”

Avon head coach Frank DeSmit is proud of his team’s 15-0 start and knows what it’s going to take to keep it going.

“When we go in there and we have a plan and the guys execute the plan, they do pretty well,” DeSmit said. “The weekend games are always a little tricky because they’re non-conference games and the focus is not quite as sharp. The first game was a well-played game on both sides. In the second game, we got some runs early that helped.”

@MJ_Steve_Walker

Last Updated: 4/22/2012 6:54:03 PM EST