The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
HCP 765 Senior Legion Baseball team traveled to East Moline for a two seven inning double header which turned into a marathon night. The first game started at 6:00 p.m. and saw HCP come from behind to win the game 5-4.
Jensen Jones homered in the first inning for a 1-0. HCP added another run in the top of the third when Jeremy Shipman scored for a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the third East Moline pushed two runs across to tie the ball game 2-2. East Moline scored two more runs in their half of the fifth inning for a 4-2 lead. In the top of the sixth HCP's Nick Morris scored to draw within one 4-3.
In the top of the seventh still down by one, HCP scored two runs to take the lead 5-4 when Ryan Keever and Joshua Ragar crossed the plate. East Moline came to the plate and got their first two batters on base threatening to win the game in the bottom of the seventh but Quinn Leath finished a complete game performance by getting a
ground out and then striking out the final two batters he faced.
Heres where the marathon began, what started out as a seven inning game turned into a four and a half hour 14 inning game ending at 12:30 a.m. with East Moline coming out on top 2-1. Christopher Wisslead started on the mound for HCP and pitched a strong nine innings.
HCP scored first in the third inning when Jason Seigworth crossed for a 1-0 lead which held up until the fifth inning when East Moline scored on a throwing error to tie the ball game at one all. Both teams had several opportunities to score to end the game but strong pitching and good defense held each other in check. Several outstanding defensive plays were turned in by Silas Pogue, Jake Halcomb and Justin Martin late in the game to keep HCPs hopes alive for a sweep. Jason Seigworth came on in relief in the bottom of the tenth inning and pitched great. Unfortunately,
in the bottom of the fourteenth, HCP just could not hold. Seigworth started off the inning with a
strikeout, a walk and two errors loaded the bases for East Moline. The winning run crossed the plate on a walk. Unfortunately for HCP both of East Molines runs were unearned but good enough for the win.
HCP had a nine day lay-off when East Moline over-booked games and chose not to travel to
Stronghurst for a rematch. When HCP finally got back to playing, we traveled to Abingdon for a double header. The lay-off really showed in our play with very little offense at the plate and several errors in the first game. Abingdon came out on top 4-1, with HCP's only run comming in the second inning when Justin Martin drove in Nick Morris. Quinn Leath pitched the complete game suffering a tough loss.
In the second game, it looked like more of the first game with Abingdon jumping out to a 4-1 lead by the end of the third inning. Josh Grant led off the game with a single and later scored. In the bottom of the fourth, HCP came up with spectacular defensive plays by Nick Morris at shortstop and Jake Halcomb at third base on back to back plays. This seamed to spark HCP and in the top of the fifth the offense came alive batting seven men and scoring three runs to tie the ball game at four all. Scoring for HCP were Silas Pogue, Cody Ferrill and Jake Halcomb. Another strong defensive stand in the bottom of the fifth kept HCP's momentum up and when we came to the plate in the top of the sixth pushed across three more runs when Cody Ferril drove in Josh Grant and Silas Pogue with his first home run of their season to take a 7-4 lead. HCP pushed it's final run across in the top of the seventh with Christopher Wisslead scoring. Wisslead was also the winning pitcher going the distance on the mound.
HCP returned home to play a double header against Rockridge this past weekend. HCP came out and played like they are capable of playing. Cody Ferrill started on the mound pitching the first four innings. Rockridge batted 10 men and scoring four runs in the top of the first inning to take a 4-0 lead into the second where HCP took control of the game. HCP returned the favor by sending 14 batters to the plate scoring 10 runs for a 10-4 lead. Rockridge came back with two runs in the top of the third and three more in the fourth to cut the lead to 10-9. Jensen Jones
came on in relief to cut Rockridge's rally short. In the bottom of the fourth, HCP again sent 14 batters to the plate scoring eight more runs to take a commanding 18-9 lead. HCP added one more run in the fifth for a 19-9 winning by the ten run rule. Justin Martin and Jensen Jones each blasted three run home runs in the game to lead the offense.
Game two was a well played game by both teams with the outcome of the game decided late in the contest. Jason Seigworth started on the mound going two innings. Rockridge scored in their half of the first for a 1-0 lead. HCP came right back in their half of the first scoring three runs with Josh Grant, Jensen Jones and Nick Morris scoring for the home team. Jeremy Shipman came on in relief in the third with a rocky start giving up four runs to give Rockridge a 5-3 lead. HCP pushed across a lone run in the bottom of the third to cut the lead to 5-4. Shipman settled down not allowing Rockridge to score over the next three innings.
In the bottom of the sixth, HCP trailing by a run mounted their comeback. Christopher Wisslead walked, followed by a Brent Hartley walk brought Jeremy Shipman to the plate. Shipman laced a triple to right center field scoring both Wisslead and Hartley for a 6-5 lead.
In the top of the seventh inning, Rockridge mounted their version of a comeback with a single and
a walk to lead off the inning. Christopher Wisslead came on in relief at this point. Wisslead got the first batter to pop up for the first out but then walked the next batter to load the bases. Wisslead then buckled down and struck out the final two batters to end the game with a come from behind win 6-5.
Henderson County Post 765 last home game will be this Saturday July 20 at 1:30 p.m. against Oneida. Come out and enjoy a good ball game and support these young men.