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Cole Adkins -
Christian McClendon -
Hayden Money -
Hunter Lenochan -
Parker Coil
The ball flew hard into left field, but a good catch ended the comeback.
The Edmond Memorial baseball team fell 3-2 Thursday night to Southmoore at Wendell Simmons Field after stranding the tying run on base.
Memorial (4-2) got a runner on base in the bottom of the seventh after a dropped third strike, but Southmoore caught a well-hit ball to end the game.
Southmoore (6-3) held strong despite the Bulldogs’ late comeback attempt.
Memorial coach JP Holman said the Bulldogs left too many runners on base.
“We were on the barrel a little bit, but we hit balls at them, and then we lost a lot of counts,” Holman said. “We were taking good pitches to hit early in the count, early in the game. As far as that goes, we kind of self-imploded a little bit.”
The Bulldogs scored twice in the fifth in an attempt to come from behind. Senior Gunner Phillips started the inning by reaching second on an error. Three batters later, junior Noah Kang singled to score Phillips. Memorial loaded the bases for senior Hunter Lenochan, who drew a walk to bring senior Christian McClendon home.
Southmoore junior pitcher Carson Padgett responded with a strikeout to end the inning. The Bulldogs got three runners on base in the final two innings but stranded all.
Holman said it was just an off night for the hitters.
“It had been over a week since they had seen live pitching,” Holman said. “The guys that Southmoore ran out there were pretty good. But from a mentality standpoint, what we talked to them after the game was being more aggressive early in the count, not losing the counts, falling behind.”
Kang had one hit and one RBI. Phillips collected two hits and scored a run. Junior Hayden Money pitched 3 1/3 innings. He threw two strikeouts.
Southmoore junior Brady Gaughan threw three innings with two strikeouts and no runs allowed.
Holman said Money and fellow pitchers Parker Coil and Ethan Fritts did well despite the result.
“I though they did a great job,” Holman said. “I was really pleased with the pitching. I mean, 99 out of 100 times, if we only give up 3 runs and just a few hits, we’re going to win.”