By Josh Govero
The Buffalo Bison eager to continue their newfound winning ways traveled south for an afternoon clash with Reeds Spring. Looking to build on an impressive 8-1 start, the Bison were able to squeeze out a victory defeating the Wolves 2-0.
Relief pitcher and staff ace, Parker Tyree, slammed the door shut on Reeds Spring’s final opportunity. With a man on third, Tyree struck out the final two batters of the game to seal Buffalo’s victory. It was a well-deserved win for an up and coming Bison squad.
“I like to see my team get us a lead and then come in (out of the bullpen) and shut teams down,” said Tyree. “We just want to keep breaking stereotypes, a lot of teams think they’re going to run all over us. We’re hoping to change that.”
Buffalo was able to get to Reeds Spring starter Noah Briley early in the game. He retired the first man up, but Travis Clemmons reached on a throwing error. He would advance on a fielder’s choice. Then Buffalo starting pitcher, Billy McCune was able to help himself with a run scoring single to center field making the score 1-0.
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On the mound McCune would battle all day. Not necessarily overpowering, McCune made pitches and let his defense do the work behind him. Bison first-year coach Eric Ingram was pleased with his performance, “He hit some heck of spots, I thought he controlled the strike zone. He had them out in front and then snuck some fastballs by them.” He said, “He kept the ball low and then (our defense) got the plays we needed to.”
The Bison would tack on one more run in the third inning. Clemmons once again reached on an error. He would be out at second on a fielder’s choice with Austin Williams taking first. Up stepped McCune and he would capitalize on the opportunity. He hammered a pitch from Briley over the right fielder’s head scoring Williams on a double. When McCune looked up from second base the score was 2-0 and the Bison were feeling good.
Reeds Spring was looking to put together a rally in their half of the third. Left fielder Carter Sadler led off with a single. He advanced on a sacrifice and then a stolen base found him standing on third. Shortstop Seth Stamps lined one off of Tyree’s glove. He picked up the ball and got it over to first for the second out. First baseman Collin Cross fired the ball home just in time to nail Sadler trying to score.
It would be the tale of the game as Reeds Spring would be unable to capitalize off their opportunities. Afterwards Reeds Spring head coach Chris Funk said, “We had a couple errors occur, but that didn’t cost us the game. We didn’t take advantage of our chances. We put some balls into play but their defense did what they were supposed to do.”
The two early runs would be all that Buffalo would end up needing as they secured a 2-0 victory. With the win they improved to 9-1 overall for the season.
Looking to improve on last year’s 12-16 season, Coach Ingram said these are the wins his team missed from last year. “This team last year struggled to win these games, those one-run games, those two-run games, but this season we’ve really done a good job of making plays and getting out of jams.”
Buffalo’s next game will be Thursday at home against Bolivar.
Reeds Spring fell to 4-6 for the season. They will face off against a tough league opponent on Thursday as they welcome Springfield Catholic to town for a 4:30 game .
BUFFALO – 2, REEDS SPRING -0
Buffalo – 1010000 – 2 7 1
Reeds Spring – 0000000 – 0 3 2
BATTING
2B- Buffalo: Kays, Williams; Reeds Spring: Durham
PITCHING
WP: McCune 0R, 5 IP, 1 K, 2 H, 3 BB
SV: Tyree 0R, 2 IP, 3 K, 1 H, 2 BB
LP: Briley 2R, 0 ER, 4 IP, 3 K, 1 H, 1 BB
