By Ted Waddell
ELDRED — May 11, 2007 — The Eldred Yellowjackets baseball team (0-11 overall, 0-6 division) had a rough afternoon on Wednesday.
They remained winless on the season after suffering a 13-8 defeat to the visiting S.S. Seward Spartans in an Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association Division VI game. (14-4 overall, 6-0 division). In addition, Yellowjacket third baseman Bobby Warden got spiked and pitcher Phil Talley was beaned on the head by a blazing shot off an aluminum bat.
“I tried to catch it, but it was no way,” Talley said.
Seward (14-4, 6-0 Division VI) opened up the first frame with seven runs.
Eldred’s Ian Halloran led off the bottom of the fifth with a double. Later in the frame, Nick Simonelli doubled down the left field side with runners on second and third.
Eldred (0-11, 0-6 Div. VI) scored six runs in the fifth to make it a 8-8 ballgame.
In the top of the sixth, Seward’s Jeremy Harter hit a two-run double to break the 8-8 tie. Rob DiMontoua led off the seventh with a double and later scored.
The scent of their first victory of the season in the air quickly dissipated for the Yellowjackets when their third baseman (Warden) was sidelined by a set of spikes and the team got tagged with a couple of errors.
Seward pitcher Dylan Gaucher gave up two runs and four hits in four innings of work. In the fifth, DiMontoua yielded six hits and six runs. Will Oliphant struck out seven batters in 2 1/3 innings.
Seward Coach Bill Steele, who is in his sixth year, was pleased that his team racked up 15 hits during their victory against the Yellowjackets.
Despite the five-run loss, Eldred Coach Frank Kean remains optimistic about the rest of the season.
“We’re getting there, we’re starting to come around,” he said.
“Phil Talley pitched the whole seven [innings], and he gave up five earned runs,” Kean added. “We made way too many mistakes behind him in the first inning when they scored seven runs.
“Win, lose or draw, our kids try hard, and they show a lot of class,” he said of Eldred’s reputation for good sportsmanship. “I was always taught that win or lose, you’ve got to go out showing class.”