By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
ST. PAUL, Ore.– Kennedy did Kennedy things Wednesday afternoon.
Pretty much, you give them a window, and the Trojans will find a way to take advantage of it. And they did just that in the second game of their 2A/1A Special District 2 series with St. Paul at St. Paul High School.
The Buckaroos held a 5-0 lead on Kennedy going into the sixth inning, looking to cash in on another possible victory as they did on Monday. Clay Smith kept the Trojan bats in check, holding Kennedy to just two hits going into what was shaping up to be another strong defensive showing by St. Paul.
That was. Until the Trojans rallied the troops and turned the game around.
Henry Beyer was the spark plug for Kennedy. With his lead-off double, the Trojans went to work. Going through the lineup, they cut the 5-0 deficit down to 5-4, and the bases were loaded by the time Beyer came back up. First pitch of his second at-bat of the inning, Beyer pushed the Trojans ahead 8-5 thanks to a Grand Slam Home Run.
By inning’s end, thanks to four hits and six walks, Kennedy led 9-5 over St. Paul.
“It was great, I led off that inning, and I went off with a double, and then we gained off that and just kept on hitting, and it felt great. I came up, they switched pitchers, and I’m like, ‘I’m going to do it’, and it happened,” said Beyer. “It keeps surprising me with how good we can be sometimes. I think we got a good chance on Friday… we got to come hot with the bats like we did in the sixth and seventh, and I think we should be good.”
It was the little things in that inning, the mental mistakes, that hurt St. Paul allowed Kennedy to climb back into it in what became a Trojan 14-6 victory. It’s something that the Buckaroos are striving to improve on since it’s been their kryptonite this season. But the good thing is, moving into Friday’s game, they got a chance at taking the series from Kennedy and continue to build some momentum with the 2A/1A State Playoffs looming ahead of them.
“We’ve been playing really well, hitting the ball really well, We just got to cut down those mental mistakes, and we’re going to be fine. We’re making our run to the playoffs and see what we can do.. We got to go over there with the thought that we can win the series…so we’re just getting better, we got to cut down on the mental errors,” said St. Paul Head Coach Dwayne Nowlin. “(Kennedy’s) is a really good team, and we battled with them, and we’re doing a good job. Keep playing hard.”
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
