Smoky Valley humbles Trojans with road split
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
While the first part of the ride for the Trojans' baseball team may have been smooth, it's now got the potential to get pretty bumpy.
Considering who the next four games are against, Hillsboro coaches Phil Oelke and Dustin McEwen might want to do some checking into shock-absorbers.
The Trojans hit a pothole Friday night at home, picking up its second consecutive split of the week, this time against a good-hitting, competitive Smoky Valley Vikings' team.
Hillsboro run-ruled the Vikings in the first game, 10-0, but struggled at the plate in the nightcap and fell 20-9.
Oelke and the Trojans expected their hitting to tumble once they faced a solid pitching rotation.
And Friday night, the Vikings did a good job of making the Trojans uncomfortable at the plate.
"Nobody from Smoky threw hard," Oelke said. "But when you can throw in a curve-ball and a change-up, they're very, very good.
"I don't care if you're throwing 70 miles an hour or 90 miles an hour, you're going to be tough to hit."
Still, the Trojans racked up 12 hits in the opener and 10 in the finale.
Hitting was something that Jerod Metcalf nearly denied the Vikings of in the opener, firing a two-hitter to pick up the win.
The Trojans also got it done with their defense, playing their best game of the year mistake free.
"Friday night, Smoky just played well," said Oelke. "Defensively, that was the best game we've had all year."
Metcalf's no hitter finally gave way in the top half of the third, but by that time, the Trojans were already on top, 4-0.
Layne Frick scored on a wild pitch for Hillsboro's first of a two-run first inning.
Then Shawn Hughbanks drove in a one-run single that made for the 2-0 score after one.
Dustin Jost pushed the Vikings down, 4-0, nailing a two-run single for the second-inning eruption.
He too was responsible for a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth which left the Vikings two runs short of going down for the count.
Smoky Valley was its own worst enemy in the opener, spotting the Trojans four runs with blunders.
Three of the five Viking-mistakes came in the fatal fourth inning, when Hillsboro ripped off three runs from just one hit to take a 7-0 lead.
The Vikings gave up two unearned runs before Metcalf popped out for an RBI.
"Had it not been for their errors in both games," said Oelke. "We wouldn't have scored a lot of runs."
Needing one run in the bottom of the fifth to dispose of the Vikings, a pair of singles by Andy Brubacher and James Bina allowed Frick to slam the door.
The Trojans followed up their quick start in the opener in the nightcap, erupting for a 5-0 lead after the first inning.
Brubacher, Hughbanks Ronn Coates, Steve Chisholm and Jost drove in RBIs to get the game off to what appeared to be a promising start for Hillsboro.
Jost held the Vikings to just one hit before the wheels started coming off for him on the hill in the second inning.
He gave up the tying five runs in the sliding second along with four of his 10 allowed hits.
The Trojans regained the lead, 6-5, in the bottom third as Brubacher scored on a Viking miscue.
That was the all the magic the Trojans could muster with the Vikings regaining the lead for good with a nine-run-eight hit fourth inning.
The commotion knocked Jost out after three and two-thirds innings.
