[wpbvideo id=’306958′]
By John Miller (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Springfield, Mo. – One year after getting run-ruled by his team’s top rival, Glendale’s Ethan Paschke got some revenge.
Paschke twirled 6.2 scoreless innings on Tuesday afternoon against Kickapoo, striking out eight in the Falcons 2-0 win at Glendale High School.
“He had a bad taste in his mind after last year against Kickapoo,” Glendale coach Jim Julian said. “Those are two totally different teams, but he was really focused and ready to go.”
Last year, Kickapoo run-ruled Glendale 11-1, with most of those runs coming while Paschke was on the mound. On Tuesday, Kickapoo struggled to even get on base. The senior allowed only three base runners and retired nine of the final 10 he faced.
“I was just hitting my spots and getting the ump to help me out a little bit on the outside corner,” Paschke joked. “That always helps.”
Paschke lived in the strike zone, throwing strikes on 72 of his 103 pitches.
“I’ve got a lot of trust in my defense,” he said. “I know if I just throw strikes, even if they do hit it, I’ve got a good defense backing me up.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Glendale’s defense came through in the third inning. With two outs and a man at second, Mason Auer ripped a single into left. Left fielder Jack Hamlin picked up the ball and threw a seed to home, retiring Kickapoo’s Jacob Murrell to end the threat.
“That was huge,” Julian said. “Jack is a gamer. He’s got a good arm and pretty good range. He’s in every pitch, anticipates the ball coming to him, and it shows.”
The game was scoreless into the third inning, when Glendale punched two runs across on Auer. The Falcons had first and second with two out when Thomas Brand roped a single into center, scoring Ty Wilmsmeyer. As the Chiefs relayed the ball home, Max Elmer tried to sneak into third. Auer, backing up the play at home, gunned the ball to third, but overthrew his man, sending the ball into left field and allowing Elmer to score.
Brand finished 2-for-3 at the plate, the lone player on either side with a multi-hit effort.
Auer was dominant at times on Tuesday and, at others, was his own worst enemy. In five innings, he punched out 11 batters, but also walked five, hit another, and had two throwing errors.
“We tried to shorten our swing and just put the ball in play against him,” Julian said. “I don’t know if we did that all night, but we had some guys in the right place at the right time.
Kickapoo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2
Glendale 0 0 2 0 0 0 X 2 3 0
WP-Paschke
LP-Auer
Kickapoo: Auer, Giefer, Murrell
Glendale: Brand 2, Elmer
