Rebels limit VHS to 1 hit in season opener
Published 8:03 pm Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Thorsby topped Verbena, 10-0 in six innings on Wednesday, in both teams’ season opener.
Host Thorsby took advantage of Verbena errors in the first inning, put the game away in the fifth inning, and gave up only one hit in cold, windy weather not advantageous for batters.
“It was good to get a win, but we’ve still got a ways to go,” Thorsby coach Ab Argent said.
The Rebels took a 3-0 lead against Verbena starter Kelley Dorsett, who suffered the loss, with only one hit, a two-out single through the left side of the infield that scored Cory Woodall.
Dorsett was effective and kept his team in the game despite its lack of offense until the fifth inning.
Right fielder Drew Minor led off with a triple to the right field fence and followed by back-to-back run-scoring doubles by third baseman Jason Price and catcher Matt Morgan.
Woodall drove home Morgan but was thrown out at home plate trying to stretch the hit into an inside-the-park home run after a fielding error in the Verbena outfield allowed the ball to roll to the fence.
The Red Devils could never get anything going against the Thorsby pitching. Starter Cody Carroll allowed only one hit and one walk (Verbena shortstop Christian Coston recorded the hit and the walk; he also stole a base) through five innings while striking out 11.
Shaine Beam relieved Carroll and retired the side in order in the sixth, striking out two.
Thorsby added two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to end the game early.
The Rebels recorded eight hits, and five of them were of the extra base variety. Every Thorsby batter in the starting lineup either scored a run or drove in a run, and four Rebels—Woodall, Carroll, Wesley Smitherman, Price and Morgan—did both.
Both teams will play again on Thursday. Verbena hosts Isabella at 1:30 p.m., and Thorsby hosts Billingsley at 3:30 p.m.