Merchants fall to Pittsville, 8-5
The Abbotsford Merchants could not hold on to an early lead on the road against Pittsville, falling 8-5 to the River Bandits this past Sunday.
Both teams had entered the day tied at the top of Dairyland Small league with 3-1 records in conference play, though it would be the River Bandits who would leave with their first place status still intact. A solid pitching performance from Pittsville’s Evan Haley and Dawson Luther kept the Merchants’ bats in check, holding them to just four hits all afternoon.
The home team struck first, putting up a run in the bottom of the first. The Merchants were able to answer with their own run in the top of the second, an RBI groundout from Aaron Morrow pushing Brett Nelson across the plate to tie things up at 1-1.
It was the third inning where Abbotsford was able to do most of its damage. Two walks and an error by Pittsville set up the visitors with bases loaded with two outs. Blake Bargender sent a 2-1 pitch out to deep left center field and while it seemed that the River Bandits’ left fielder had managed to track the ball down, a misplay allowed all three Merchants that had been on base to come home safely. Bargender reached second on the play, giving Abbotsford another opportunity to build upon their newly acquired lead.
Nelson came through in the next at- bat, slapping a clutch single up the middle to drive in the Abbotsford catcher and making the score 5-1.
The Merchants’ offense came to a screeching halt following their four-run third inning. They would be held to just two hits over the next six innings, both of them courtesy of Bargender’s bat. Strikeouts would start to become a problem, with Pittsville’s Luther fanning eight Abbotsford batters over the rest of the game, and they would not receive any more help from the River Bandits defense. After committing three errors in the first three innings, Pittsville moved past its early shakiness to play perfectly in the field.
Meanwhile, Abbotsford saw its lead slowly dwindle as the game progressed. Pittsville added two runs in the bottom of the third, one in the fifth, and then finally retook the lead in the sixth after tacking on three more. The home team also added on an insurance run in the eighth.
Payton Schreiber started the game for Abbotsford, going four innings for the club. He surrendered three runs on five hits and three walks while striking out four batters. Two of his runs were earned.
Morrow stepped onto the mound in relief of Schreiber in the fifth inning, going four innings himself. He gave up five runs on six hits and three walks and was saddled with the loss. He also struck out three.
Bargender ended the day with three out of the Merchants four hits, going 3-for-4 from the plate and scoring a run. Nelson went 1-for-3 with a walk, an RBI, and a run scored.
The loss dropped the Merchants to 3-2 in the Dairyland Small division and to 3-4 overall. Their next game will be at home against Merrill on Wednesday, July 19 at 7:00 p.m.
