Hauser upsets No. 9 Edinburgh
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EDINBURGH — Call it an upset. The Hauser baseball team beat Class A No. 9 Edinburgh 5-2 Thursday.
“It leaves a bad taste in your mouth, losing a game like this,” said Edinburgh coach Cole Zook.
The Jets (6-9) got on the board in the fourth, when a two-out Edinburgh error allowed designated hitter Jared Compton on base and brought home Adam Miller. Another defensive miscue got center fielder Kyle Johns to first and scored Dalton Tucker and Compton to give Hauser a three-run cushion.
“We had some mental mistakes in the outfield that cost us some runs and against a team like this you can't have that,” Zook said. “That proved to be the reason the outcome happened the way it did.”
Edinburgh (13-4) answered with two runs in the bottom of the fourth to cut its deficit to one, but Hauser never trailed in the contest.
“It's a great win; that is a good team,” said Hauser pitcher Reid Thayer, who had eight strikeouts in the winning effort. “A lot of people underestimate us and I know they are ranked and have a good record. The key for tonight was to come out and hit the ball and make the routine plays and that is exactly what we did.”
The Jets extended their lead in the fifth with a good showing at the plate, getting four of their five hits in the two-run inning.
“Their pitchers, (JR) Banks and (Josh) Swallows, they are top-notch competitors,” Hauser coach Jerry Schoen said. “That's what makes them such a tough team and why they are ranked and why their record is that way.”
The two Edinburgh pitchers combined for 10 strikeouts in the contest with Banks tallying up eight.
Hauser came out hot in the fifth. Thayer started the inning off with a double that put his club in position to add to its three runs. After an Isaiah Martin sacrifice moved Thayer to third, Miller smacked a ball to the fence that resulted in an RBI triple.
“The pitcher threw a curveball and I picked it up early,” Miller said. “We work every day in practice on snapping our hands through, and that's all it takes to get a good hit — getting speed on the bat.”
A few at-bats later, catcher Derek Cooper knocked in Miller to set the score at 5-2.
“They are a scrappy team so with a three-run lead going into the seventh, that is not secure because they were at the top of their lineup and those guys don't give in,” Schoen said. “Their first four or five hitters are probably the most consistent hitters we've faced in a lineup.”
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