Published: May 01, 2008 11:56 pm            

Eagles escape Rose Hill, 5-3

WESTWOOD — Neither coach was happy with the effort, but Fairview coach Rick Lambert was glad to get out with a 5-3 win over Rose Hill Christian on Thursday night.

“Not to take anything away from Rose Hill, but we kind of played down,” Lambert said. “We were very fortunate to get out of some innings.”

Fairview pitching dug itself a hole a few times, but each time Jeff Evans and Tyler Brown escaped relatively unharmed.

Evans threw 11 straight balls in the third inning, but was able to get out of the jam by striking out two of the next three batters and then inducing a groundout.

He found himself in another predicament in the fourth inning, with two runners on and only one out, but struck out John Thompson and Troy Huffine to get out of a scoreless inning.

While Rose Hill remained scoreless through four innings, the Eagles scored three runs in the span.

Evans, who struck out seven in 4 2/3 innings on the mound, helped himself out with an RBI triple in the second inning and courtesy runner Jared Hutchinson would score on a groundout from Ryan Holbrook, which gave Fairview a 2-0 lead.

In the third inning, the Eagles strung three straight singles together, including a run-scoring single off the bat of Tyson Greene, who went 2-for-2 and scored a run as well.

“We’ve been fortunate in the last eight or nine games to get timely hitting,” Lambert said. “Just like anything else, hitting is contagious.”

But, while Fairview was getting timely hits, Rose Hill was not able to do so. The Royals (3-16) stranded 13 runners on base.

“We just needed one hit in two or three places and we could have beaten them,” said Rose Hill Christian coach Dale Hensley. “We probably hit around .325 last year. This year, we’re hitting about .200 with the same players.”

Rose Hill managed to get two runs in the fifth inning. Jacob Mullen hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Matt Fultz. Ethan Parsons later scored on a throw as Scott Gambill stole second base.

In the bottom half of the fifth inning, Matt Thompson and Chip Bailey each drove in a run for the Eagles.

Rose Hill’s Fultz drove in John Thompson with a single to center field in the sixth inning, an inning in which Fairview committed three errors. Rose Hill just trailed 5-3 at that point.

Lambert said the errors were bound to happen with the way the Eagles were playing.

“We didn’t play like we were capable of,” Lambert said. “We were sleepwalking out there. You have to come out there with great intensity on every pitch and every play.”

The tying run was on first base for the Royals in the top of the seventh, but Brown got Fultz to fly out to center field to end the game.

“I have good confidence in both of those young pitchers,” Lambert said of Evans and Brown. “Tyler works very hard. He does whatever is asked of him. When he comes in, he’s ready to go. You can see it on his face.”

The Eagles are riding a seven-game hitting streak heading into Monday night’s matchup with 16th Region frontrunner Greenup County.

“If we play with the intensity we played with today, they’ll mercy us,” Lambert said. “But I think we should be ready to go.”

Rose Hill, which has lost nine in a row, will visit Ashland tonight at 8:30.



ROSE HILL 000 021 0 — 3 6 0

FAIRVIEW 021 020 x — 5 8 3

Gambill and Fultz; Evans, Brown (5) and Bailey. W — Evans. L — Gambill. 2B — Rose Hill, Whetzel, Fairview, Greene, Bradley. 3B — Fairview, Evans.

        

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