Well, at least the hot dogs were free.
That could have been the word from the Seymour Tigers dugout Tuesday evening after a 5-3 loss to Summit Conference rival Hartville.
The hot dogs?
They were part of a celebration of the Tigers’ new scoreboard and scorekeepers, courtesy of The Seymour Bank and Lucky Lumber.
Along with free hot dogs, chips and drinks for all attendees (and players) at the game, a representative of Lucky Lumber threw out a ceremonial first pitch to start the Tigers’ first home contest of the 2016 season.
At first that seemed to be the forebearer to good things for the home team, as the Tigers struck first with hits by seniors Landon Bell, Joshua Smith and Kyle Scheffler (Bell scoring), but a big second and third inning for Hartville would pull them ahead of the home team.
:We actually got our momentum going defensively in the second inning,” said Hartville head coach Joe Garrison. “Bottom of the second, we had a strike ‘im out, throw ‘im out and a nice little caught ball that could have gotten through. Turned a hit into a three up, three down inning and that seemed to wake us up.”
The Eagles would turn that defensive momentum into offensive momentum in the top of the third inning. Junior Hagan Simmons hit a single, followed by a walk from classmate Broc Arnall. A double by senior Grant Dedmon would score the pair of juniors, putting Hartville on top 2-1.
Garrison noted a strong performance from his hurlers in the contest.
“James Schmidt and Jace Keith did a good job on the mound,” he said. “It took them awhile to get comfortable on the mound and get ahead on the count, but once they did they were able to maintain the score and throw strikes.”
The Eagles wouldn’t score again until the sixth inning, when Hartville added two runs to their tally. Junior Braden Keith reached base on an error by the right fielder, then a double was hit by Gary Jolley. Singles by Simmons and Arnall and a sac fly by Dedmon would leave the Eagles on top 5-2 going into the seventh inning.
Seymour loaded the bases in the seventh inning, but strong pitching by the Eagles saved the win.
“We had our opportunity during that last inning when we loaded the bases with the middle of our order up, but their pitcher did a good job and got us out,” said Seymour head coach Sam Berg.
Berg noted a strong debut performance on the mound by Morgan McCarty.
“Morgan McCarty in his first varsity appearance, came in pitching relief and did a good job,” he said.
The Tigers will host Billings on Friday evening, while the Eagles will travel to Plato tomorrow (Tuesday) evening.
At the plate for Hartville, Simmons went 2 for 3, Arnall 2 for 3, Dedmon 1 for 3 with a double and two runs batted in, and Deric Jones 1 for 4 with a stolen base.
At the plate for Seymour, Bell went 2 for 4 with a stolen base, Smith 1 for 4, Scheffler 1 for 3, Eric Helms 2 for 3 with a double, and senior Rylan Young 1 for 3.
