BASEBALL

After eking out an 8-7 win over Grace Monday afternoon at Forest Glen, the HU baseball team ran away with a 14-5 decision in the nightcap to not only sweep the twin bill but the four-game series too. The Foresters picked up their first two wins against the Lancers on Thursday of last week.

With these wins, Huntington improves to 10-10 overall, 8-4 in league play while GC drops to 10-15 overall, 4-8 in CL action.

While Ian McCutcheon’s solo shot in the first gave HU the early lead in the opener, Grace came storming back in the next two frames to find home five times for a 5-1 advantage.

It made for a somber beginning but Langston Ginder’s grand slam in the bottom of the third finally woke the HU dugout as his mighty swing instantly tied things up at fives. Huntington kept things rolling by scoring twice on a missed catch in centerfield in the fifth for a 7-5 advantage.

The Lancers got one back in the seventh to pull within one, but Frame’s crew added what seemed an insurance run in the eighth on a ground out by Max Moser. It turned out to be the game-winner as Grace rallied in their final at bat to keep things exciting.

After the visitors’ first two batters got on base via a Forester error and hit by pitch, reliever Isaac Horton worked a double play only to give up an RBI-double to make for a one-run game. But Horton wasn’t flustered as he calmly got the next Lancer to ground out to slam the door shut on any late-game heroics GC was scheming.

Horton was credited with the save having tossed the final 2.2 frames while Noah Arbuckle, after a rough second and third frame, settled in to earn the win by giving up eight hits, six runs and a walk while striking out four in 6.1 innings of work.

Seven hits by seven different Foresters made up HU’s offense with Ginder leading the way with his four-run blast.

The first 3.5 innings of the nightcap were up for grabs as both sides pushed three runs across the plate up to that point, but the Foresters made a statement in the bottom of the fourth to take control of the contest.

Nick Davit set the tone by blistering one over the right field fence for the go-ahead run. Two batters later, Daniel Lichty sent one to the warning track for an RBI-triple and then trotted home on a McCutcheon bomb, his second homer of the doubleheader.

The Lancers couldn’t stop the bleeding as Huntington piled on seven more runs in the fifth highlighted by RBI-knocks by Jarret Gray, Lichty, McCutcheon and Owen Young.

When all was said and done, Frame’s crew sifted through five Lancer pitchers. Six of their 13 hits were for extra bases. In addition to his fourth-inning dinger, McCutcheon also collected two doubles, to go along with scoring four times and posting three RBI. Lichty also finished with three hits and three RBI. Gray and Satchell Wilson added two base pokes and finished with two and one RBI respectively.
Joey Butz picked up the win. He struck out six batters while giving up five hits, five runs and three walks in 5.0 innings of work.

HU is back at Forest Glen tomorrow to host Manchester for a single nine at 3:00 p.m.