Buckeye Central baseball, softball swept by Plymouth

• Buckeye Central head coach Chad Jensen says that his team is going to use these nonleague double headers as opportunities to learn.
• Plymouth smacked 18 hits in game two in route to 19 runs.
• Junior Addyson Horne piled up the strikeouts for the Big Red collecting 16 in game one.
• Buckeye Central baseball and softball team played host to the Plymouth Big Red in non-league double headers. The Bucks and Buckettes went a combined 0-4 on the day

NEW WASHINGTON – It was a rough day for the Buckeye Central baseball and softball teams as they played host to the Plymouth Big Red in non-league double headers. The Bucks and Buckettes went 0-4 on the day.

The Buckettes kicked off the late afternoon match up in a hard fought first game., a 3-2 Plymouth win. Buckeye Central started the game off by jumping on the Lady Big Red early striking first in the home half of the opening inning. Senior Sierra Hanes roped a liner to right field. The ball rattled around in the corner for a while allowing Hanes to earn herself a triple. A throwing error on the play by the Big Red allowed Hanes to come all the way around to score.

Plymouth the jumped out to the lead in the top of the fourth. Junior Haven Keene smacked a single between third and short to lead the inning off. Senior Grace Brown hit a hard shot to the right center field gap that brought Keene all the way around from first for an RBI double. A throw to the plate allowed Brown to advance to third. Senior Lexi Washburn grounded out to shortstop allowing Brown to score for a 2-1 Plymouth lead.

The Buckettes forced a tie in the home half of the inning on a leadoff single by junior Miranda Wurm followed by a long RBI double off if the bat of junior Nicole Tschanen. The Lady Big Red would add a run in the top of the seventh to take the game one victory when Washburn crushed a leadoff triple and was later brought in on a senior Halei Lunceford RBI single. Plymouth head coach Troy Keene was pleased with the effort but says that decision making needs some work.

"We talked between innings about waiting back and swinging at good pitches. The next inning there were some bad pitches that were swung at and we were still way out ahead of pitches. It will come. We played a rough game last night against Mansfield Christian so It was great to see the girl respond well and pick up a quality win over a great Buckeye Central team."

Both pitchers threw complete games in what was a great pitcher's duel. Wurm allowed just five hits giving up three runs and striking out three for the Buckettes. Junior Addyson Horne piled up the strikeouts for the Big Red collecting 16 in game one. She allowed two runs on five hits and walked just one for the complete game victory. She also struck out eight in the 7-3 game two victory.

The two wins brings Plymouth's record to 9-4. The Buckettes drop to 6-6 on the year. Buckeye Central will resume league play on Monday when they host Northern 10 conference rival Carey. Buckeye Central head coach Roger Durnwald knows that his team is playing well at the right moment.

"I am enjoying watching this team play. They are playing some great defense. Last night they played some amazing defense and made plays that should be on the top ten. So we are picking it up and looking to make some noise in the N10," Durnwald said.

On the other side of the complex, the Bucks and Big Red were meeting up for a twin dealing of baseball. The Big Red picked up the game one victory by a score of 13-7.

In game two, the Big Red used an 11 run first inning to coast to a 19-5 win. In the opening frame, the Big Red collected seven hits including a three RBI double by senior Nate Weltlin and a two RBI single by senior Hunter Bailey.

The Bucks fought back in the bottom of the third to put up a five spot on the score board. Junior Cody Roberts got the inning started with a single followed by senior Austin Lutz, sophomore Trent Craft, and junior Tanner Zaebst all contributing RBI hits.

Lutz and Roberts both had a pair of hits, all singles, and each scored a run. Junior Jaret Shook and sophomore Trent Craft each drove in a run. Lutz and Roberts both led the offense with two hits apiece.

The Big Red had an offensive explosion. Plymouth smacked 18 hits in game two in route to 19 runs. Senior Chance Butcher, freshmen Jarrett Miller and freshmen Seth Bailey all collected three hits. Weltlin, and junior Colton Young both grabbed a pair of hits for the Big Red. Head coach Jason Higgin was impressed with the offensive output but was even more impressed with the pitching.

"We got out there in game two and threw strikes. We did not allow a lot of free passes and that allowed us to be successful," Higgin said.

Buckeye Central head coach Chad Jensen says that his team is going to use these nonleague double headers as opportunities to learn.

"In game one, there was a pop up between my freshmen pitcher and the catcher and our pitcher told the catcher to get it, when it is clearly my pitchers ball. So, I can live with making mistakes during these nonleague games because when it comes to N10 play, we will learn from them and be able to make those plays from now on."

The Bucks drop to 4-8 on the season as the Big Red improve to 8-4. Buckeye Central will pick up N10 play when they host Carey on Monday.

jfurr@gannett.com

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Twitter: @JakeFurr11