Defense comes up big in Locust Street’s win
Locust Street’s men’s team in the church softball league flashed the leather last Thursday night, and turned up the offensive heat when it counted, scoring eight runs in the seventh inning on the way to a 21-17 win over Apostolic Faith.
In addition to the late offensive surge, Locust Street turned a double play to end the first inning, and shut down their foes in the fifth with a 6-4-3 triple-killing after a George Tate homer had been followed by two straight singles.
Chris Hennessee and Casey Talbert had four hits each for the winners, while Bryan Merritt was 3-for-5 with a home run. Rickey Talbert, Bobby Christian, Chandler Adams and Barry Hastings also had three hits apiece.
For Apostolic Faith, Tom Barrett, Darek Elrod and Brandon Newby had four hits apiece, while Jonathan Jones, Dustin Brown and Thomas Mullins had three. Mullins and Tate both homered in the losing effort.
In other men’s league action:
North Hills 20,
Locust St. 17
North Hills batted around in the final inning, scoring seven runs to rally past Locust Street in a make-up game Monday night.
Stephen Hale homered and went 3-for-5, while Dustin Cherry and Trent Young both had four hits. Frank Southard, Kenneth Felty, Richard Felty and Kristy Rodgers added three apiece.
For Locust Street, Rickey Talbert was 5-for-5, while Coty Grissom and Chris Hennessee had four hits each. Jacob Lawrence added three hits to his team’s effort.
Biblebeaters 15,
Madison St. 8
In another game originally scheduled for June 26 but rained out, Chad Young homered on a 3-for-4 night to lead the Biblebeaters to a win. Tony Smith had three hits, while Shane Whitaker , Justin Stephens and Matt Martin had two apiece.
Casey West’s 2-for-4 night led the way for Madison Street.
Temple 12,
Morrison 11, 8 inn.
Temple’s Wes Williams drove in Ben Cantrell with the game-winning run, and finished 2-for-5 on the night Tuesday. Randal Harrell was 4-for-4 with a homer, while Brandon McGee also homered during a two-hit performance. Terry Taylor added three hits, while Chad Hopkins and Jacob Dunn had two each.
Morrison’s Terry Allen went 4-for-4, including an inside-the-park homer, while Ryan Williams and Craig Hollis had three hits apiece. Cody Adcock, Ben Cathcart, Steve Elam, Jonnie Holt, Brent Prater and Abram Pryor had two hits each.
North Hills 12,
Hebron 7
Stephen Hale had a home run, and Victor Roller went 4-for-4 to lead North Hills past Hebron. Kenneth Felty, Hale, Kyle Fisher and Richard Felty had two hits apiece, while John Sparkman was 3-for-3 on a night when North Hills’ Hale, Fisher and Chris Mullican all had homers which were over the league limit and counted as outs.
Hebron’s Chris Perry was 3-for-3, while John Blair had a pair of hits.
Biblebeaters 16,
Friendship 6
Shane Whitaker was 3-for-3 with a homer for the winning cause, while Matt Martin, Tony Smith and Joe Baker added three hits apiece. Jamie Jamison, Bud Guttierez and Chad Young all had two hits.
Friendship’s hits came from Kyle Thompson, who had two, while David Talley had a home run. Tim Gillespie, Johnathan Denton, Taylor Hankal, Montgomery Basham and Smiley King had a hit apiece.
Friendship 15,
First United 13
Friendship posted two go-ahead runs in the bottom of the sixth, then retired their foes from First United Methodists in order in the top of the seventh to preserve a win. Kyle Thompson homered in the winning cause, while David Tally, Brandon Locke, Tim Gillespie, Johnathan Denton, Taylor Hankal and Jeff Smith had two hits apiece.
Mike Cantrell had four hits for First United, while Todd Stewart had three. Skip Zwemer, Johnathan Bly, Stephen Glenn, Evan Cooper had two apiece.
Hebron 16,
Apostolic Faith 7
John Blume and Jason Denney had homers for Hebron, while Jody Denny was 4-for-4. J.B. Smith and Jason Denney had three-hit games, with Nich Cantrell, Joey Swan and Blume adding two apiece.
Apostolic Faith got a home run each from Darek Elrod and Tom Barrett, with Elrod’s 3-for-3 night leading the way. Cary Tate, Barrett and Johnathan Jones had two hits apiece.
Morrison 14,
First United 2
Ryan Williams went 2-for-3 with a homer for Morrison, while Terry Allen and Craig Hollis added two hits apiece in their win Thursday
Rob Hamby scored both runs for First United, and he and Jim Bob Powell had their team’s only base hits.
Temple 15,
First United 13
Temple’s Dean Blankenship went 3-for-3, and his team posted six runs in the fifth and another in the sixth before stopping First United Methodist in order in the top of the final frame. Brandon McGee, Randal Harrell and Wes Williams added two hits each for the winners, while First United got two each from Tyler Bell, Randy Rampp, Rob Hamby and Jim Bob Powell.