Tigers' Baseball Gets Doubled Down by Hudson

All of a sudden, a repeat as NOC Valley champions doesn’t seem as easy for the Twinsburg baseball team.

The Tigers were swept in two games by conference rival Hudson in a span of 24 hours, losing 9-3 Tuesday on their home field and then falling 4-2 Wednesday at Hudson.

Despite a solid outing by senior pitcher Frank Shaffer, Twinsburg could not muster enough offense to beat the Explorers’ impressive defense, which limited the Tigers to just three baserunners over the final five innings.

“I thought we had good at bats,” Tigers coach Don Jones said. “If you look at the last three innings, there was not a quiet out. (Hudson pitcher Jimmy) Benchek pitched to contact. We made good contact. Their shortstop must have had six or seven assists.”

Twinsburg (8-4, 3-3 NOC Valley) jumped to an early 2-1 lead through two innings, partially thanks to two errors by the Explorers (10-2, 6-0 NOC Valley) and a rough start by Benchek.

In the first inning, third baseman Alex Havens led off by reaching first on a fielding error. Center fielder Jalen Washington made  sacrifice bunt to advance him to second, and then shortstop Michael Timm drove him in with a double.

Hudson managed to tie it back up with an RBI single by center fielder Matt Ramsey, but Twinsburg added another in the second to go ahead 2-1.

From there, Benchek settled in and took over, forcing grounders and pop flies his teammates behind him easily handled. After the second inning, Benchek (5-0) allowed just one baserunner past first en route to pitching his fifth complete game in as many opportunities.

Hudson added a run in the third and then broke the game open in the fourth after Shaffer walked a batter to load the bases with one out. First baseman Duncan Moran lined a single just over Timm’s glove to score one, then shortstop Gabe Evans grounded into a fielder’s choice for the second run of the inning.

“Usually I don’t walk guys,” Shaffer (2-2) said. “I made a mistake and the kid took advantage of it. They’re a good hitting team and you’ve got to give them credit for it.”

Twinsburg did see a few bright spots in the second half of Wednesday’s game, however. Center fielder Washington, who normally posts up at right field, recorded seven putouts, including a few backpedaling snags at the warning track.

“He showed me if I’m a smart coach maybe I’m moving him to center,” Jones said. “He’s a phenomenal young talent.”