The Tyrone Golden Eagles opened their season against the Juniata Valley Hornets on Friday, March 22 in dominating fashion, winning by mercy rule with a twelve-run lead in the fifth.
Senior AJ Coleman was on the mound for the Golden Eagles and along with reliever Dylan Ewing they combined for a one-hitter, with Ewing getting his first win for the Golden Eagles.
At the plate, Ashton Walk and Gayge Miller both homered, while Coleman and Owen Oakes each had two hits and two RBIs for the Eagles.
The Eagles started the game hot with Walk blasting a home run into left field to give Tyrone a 1-0 lead.
In the second, after Wyatt Kustenbauder reached first on a hit-by-pitch, Gayge Miller took a hack at a fastball, driving it well past the left field wall.
The home run put Tyrone up 3-0. Oakes was able to force a walk to get on with 2 outs, however, Tyrone was not able to put up any more runs in the second.
The bottom of the second inning featured stellar defense from Tyrone as Kendall Lehner and Wyatt Kustenbauder were able to catch some hot line drives and hold the Hornets at 0.
In the top of the third inning, Wyatt Kustenbauder was hit with another pitch. AJ Coleman and Ashton Walk both smacked base hits and got into scoring position as Owen Oakes drove in one run with a single. Tyrone went on a tear and drove in 3 more runs to make the score 7-0.
In the bottom of the third inning Dylan Ewing stepped onto the mound and forced Juniata Valley’s Zach Dick to pop one up down the first baseline, but the Tyrone infield dropped the ball and a series of overthrows and errors resulted in a Hornet run.
The junior struggled to find the zone, walking four batters, but only allowing one hit.
Gayge Miller helped the Tyrone defense tremendously after a fastball from Ewing was smoked to the fence, but Miller was able to secure the ball soundly before running headlong into the fence.
Thankfully, Miller was not injured and Ewing held the Hornets to only one run.
Tyrone continued their hitting tear in the fourth inning as AJ Coleman and Owen Oakes both tallied hits and scored to make the score 9-1.
A series of walked batters and another solid approach from Tyrone led them to a 12-2 lead going into the fifth inning, which would be the final frame as Tyrone added two more and Juniata Valley was unable to respond in the bottom of the inning, ending the game by the 10 run mercy rule.
BOX SCORE
TYRONE (14): Coleman p-cf 412, Walk ss 422, Hammer c 310, Oakes rf 312, Light dh 210, C.McClure 1b 000, B. McClure 3b 210, Lehner 2b 410, Kustenborder cf 020, Ewing p 100, Miller lf 421. Totals – 27-14-7.
JUNIATA VALLEY (2): Buckley ss 200, Harbst p-lf 300, Thompson 3b 300, Robinson c 300, Dick rf 000, Sager rf 200, Proudhon lf 100, Spurlin p 101, Hoover 2b 100, Scalia 2b 000, Z. Dick 1b 210, Couch cf 010. Totals – 18-2-1.
SCORE BY INNINGS
Tyrone 138 02X X–14 7 5
Juniata Valley 002 00X X– 2 1 6
E-B. McClure 2, Miller, Lehner, Oakes, Hoover 3, Buckley 2, Harbst. 2B–Coleman. 3B–None. HR–Walk, Miller. RBI–Walk 3, Miller 3, Coleman 2, Oakes 2, Light, Lightner.
WP–Ewing. LP–Harbst. SO–Coleman 3, Ewing 1, Harbst 2, Spurlin 2. BB–Coleman 1, Ewing 4, Harbst 3, Spurlin 3.
Records: Tyrone (1-0), Juniata Valley (0-1).
