1A State Semi-Final Chester v Ira

 admin  |    Jun 5th, 2024

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Chester v Ira

The cooler temperatures didn’t last long nor did the slight breeze.  But, we still get to play some baseball so we have that going for us this afternoon.  The 22-0 Ira Bulldogs put Jaren Pena on the mound to face Will Thomason of the 24-10 Chester Yellow Jackets.  Turner Johnson wasted no time getting the hitting going.  He swung at the first pitch and drove it over the shortstop’s glove.  A sacrifice bunt and a groundout to shortstop Aedyn Claxton put Johnson on third.  Pena struck out Sturrock to leave Johnson stranded at third.

Ira got their leadoff batter on in the bottom of the first also.  Jeren Pena walked.  Will Thomason struck out the next two batters and get a pop fly to centerfielder, Waylon Sturrock.  In the top of the second, Pena struck out the first Yellowjacket.  Jesse Bittick singled up the middle.  An error at third put runners on 1 and 2^nd with 1 out.  Rex Gilzow advanced the runners up ninety feet.   Bittick scored on a error at short.  A walk by Turner Johnson and a single by Jaxon Gay plated another for Chester.  Cutter Lowe came up big with a 2 RBI single.  The top of the 2^nd ended 4-0 Chester.  Will Thomasson would do what pitchers are supposed to do after a big inning.  He shut down the Bulldogs.  Three up – three down.

Will Thomasson led off the top of the third with a single up the middle.  Bryson Swanson came in to run for him.  The next pitch, Jesse Bittick laid down a sacrifice bunt.  Brad Davison drove him in but was out at first. Pena records strike out number four to end the top of the fourth.  With one out, Keevan Santos advances to second on a throwing error at short.  That is as far as he would advance.  Thomason got Pena to fly out to right and then struck out Castillo.

Pena takes a slow roller by himself to record out number 1 in the top of the 4^th.  With two outs, Cutter Lowe singles to right center.  Ira would end the inning with a 4-6 groundout.  Rex Gilzow makes a great sliding catch in right field for the first out in the bottom of the 4^th.  He then got Hernadez to fly out to center.  Walks are costly in this game and after walking the next two batters, Kaden Foree doubles to plate Christian Coy.  CJ Collier walked to load the bases.  Keevan Santos walked to plate Demitri Juarez.  A passed ball plated Kaden Foree and forced a pitching change.  Waylon Sturrock took the mound for Chester.  He did his job and got the batter to fly out to center.

Jeren Pena has his first clean inning in the top of the 5^th.  After a fly out to second, a ground out to 3^rd and a strikeout, the Bulldogs were back at bat.  In the bottom of the 5^th, Ira got another runner on from a walk. Aedyn Claxton with the leadoff walk. Kaden Castillo advanced to second with a single up the middle. A walk loaded the bases.  Sturrock struck out Coy but hit Juarez to score Claxton.  A balk ties the game at five.  Sturrock walked Foree to load the bases.  Brad Davison took the mound for Chester with 1 out in the 5^th.  Davison got a swing and miss for an strikeout but the ball ended up at the backstop.  Bittick couldn’t locate it and two Bulldogs crossed the plate.  At the end of the 5^th, it was 7-5 Ira.

The Yellowjackets were shut down in the top of the 6^th.  Pena struck out the first two then got a flyout to left.  Ira turned up the heat and capitalized on Yellowjacket errors and scored three more runs.  With one out in the top of the 7^th, Jeren Pena reached his pitch limit.  Aedyn Claxton took the mound.  One pitch – one out.  Two batters – two out.

WP – Pena

LP –  Sturrock

Player of the Game:  Jeren Pena

Score by Innings	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Chester	0	4	1	0	0	0	0	5	8	4
Ira	0	0	0	3	4	3	X	10	4	3