MARION — The Rangers suffered a tough loss to a quality team Wednesday morning, as they fell 4-2 to the Crystal Lake South (CLS) Gators at Rent One Park. This loss knocks the Rangers' record back to even at 5-5.
Both Dillan Chamness and Caleb Rock had two hit games for Benton, while Bryden Pickleshimer went 1-for-2 and scored Benton's only two runs in the game. Benton recorded a total of five hits, while CLS finished with eight. Nick Van Wittenburg and Jason DeCicco both had two hits for the Gators.
The Gators were given bases on balls for their leadoff hitter Griffin Bright. Bright would go on to swipe second, and score on a sacrifice fly from Harvey Humphrey. CLS kept the pressure on as Wittenburg smashed a double, and then was driven home with an RBI triple by Cam Geisser in the next at bat. Benton had a good chance to answer back in their half of the first as Tyson Houghland drew a two-out walk to load the bases, but then Hamilton Page grounded out to first to keep the Rangers from scoring.
Benton had a solid defensive inning in the second, as pitcher Levi Pearce recovered from a rough first inning to set down his next two batters. Bright then punched through with a single for the Gators, and then stole his second base of the game before Humphrey flied out to center. Benton finally started getting some hits in their half of the second. Unfortunately, those hits were of the 'hit by pitch' variety as Pickleshimer and Chase Owens were both beaned. Pickleshimer would come around to score to get Benton their first run of the game.
In what may or may not have been a case of pitcher payback, CLS designated hitter Nick Wolski was hit by a wild throw from Logan Threlkeld, who prior to that had set down the first two batters he faced. The Gators made the Rangers pay for the beaned batter though as Wolski came around to score, as did Corey Olsen, who singled in the inning. At this point the score was 4-1 in favor of CLS.
Chamness cracked open the bottom of the third with a double, but then was thrown out trying for a triple. After the game Coach Brett Blondi noted that if the game had been played at Eovaldi Field, he probably would not have made the call for Chamness to advance to third, but also noted that had the game been played at Benton park, CLS would probably have had two or more home runs in the game as a result of the difference in field size.
Benton made another comeback attempt in the fourth as Pickleshimer doubled and later scored. That would prove to be all the offense either team had left as Benton was sent down in order in the fifth and the sixth. Owens drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh which brought the tying run up to the plate, but CLS relief pitcher Timmy Sesament took over and sat down the final three Rangers with a strikeout and two groundouts.
Andrew Engelking gave CLS a quality outing on the mound, fanning four Benton batters in six innings, while allowing five hits and issuing four walks in the winning performance. Sesament picked up the save after throwing 12 total pitches consisting of nine strikes and three balls. Pearce was the losing pitcher for Benton. He was taken out after two innings of work in which he threw 50 pitches consisting of 29 strikes and 21 balls. Pearce surrendered three hits, two walks, and two runs while facing 11 batters. Threlkeld took over and pitched the final four innings, throwing 76 pitches consisting of 42 strikes, and 34 balls. He recorded three strikeouts, three walks, four hits, and two runs while facing 15 batters.
"I did not think that Levi threw with a lot of confidence," said Blondi about his starting pitcher after the game. "I came in there and told him that he needed to trust his stuff. You know, just because we're facing a bigger team, doesn't mean that your stuff changes. He made some good adjustments though, and kept us in the game, and then Logan came in and threw the ball really well. They just executed better than we did."
Blondi gave credit to the Gators after the game, calling them a quality team. He also said he was proud of his boys for battling as hard as they did. "I don't want to take anything away from those kids. They did a good job. I thought our kids battled, and they had good at bats, and swung at good pitches, but they ran into a very good pitcher today," said Blondi.
“They were a better team than we were today. Hopefully we'll keep getting better, and if we ever face them again, hopefully we'll make some adjustments," Blondi added. "I think we're better today, than what we were yesterday," Blondi concluded, noting that he plans to make use of his day off on Friday to get ready for the first SIRR conference match-ups scheduled for next week.
The Rangers play Saturday at Eovaldi Field in a doubleheader against the Hamilton County Foxes.
