Rout inspired by defeat
Splitting their doubleheader with 4A Bonanza, the Southern Nevada Eagles 18U in the Southern Nevada Connie Mack baseball league bounced back from a crushing game-one defeat to rout the Bengals 14-2 on June 15 in game two.
“I was very pleased with how the boys played on Saturday,” head coach Jimmy Lee said. “They showed a lot of resiliency out there to come back from a heartbreaking defeat. We thought we had game one won, but instead of letting that distract them or get them down, they bounced right back.”
Falling 4-3 to the Bengals after taking the lead into the bottom of the fifth inning, losing pitcher Troy Connell overcame the setback in game one with a 5-for-5 performance at the plate in game two.
“I thought Troy was absolutely phenomenal,” Lee said. “First and foremost, he pitched great in game one. Some pitch calls go your way, some don’t; that’s part of baseball. To shake off the loss though and have his bat come alive in game two, though, was really big for us. We needed that victory to finish the day out strong.”
Finishing 6 for 6 at the plate throughout the two games, Connell drove in a pair of runs during the game-two rout, which saw the Eagles explode for five runs in the third inning, followed by three runs apiece in the fourth and sixth innings.
“We came out ready to hit,” Lee said. “Credit Bonanza because they’re a great team, but we have a lot of talented players on this roster who know how to produce.”
Deavin Lopez finished 2 for 2 with a pair of runs batted in. Scott Bahde (2 for 3) and Chafton Temple (1 for 3) each added a pair of RBIs. Joey Giunta finished 2 for 4 at the plate with an RBI, and Matt Felsenfeld finished 1 for 3 with an RBI.
On the mound, Clark Newby was awarded the victory after throwing three innings, while Bahde threw three innings of relief, striking out four batters.
Advancing to 6-2 on the season, the Eagles host 4A Shadow Ridge on Friday at Whalen Field.
Contact Robert Vendettoli at BCRsports@gmail.com.
