Redlegs Take First Loss in Split With Scouts
The Redlegs traveled to the home turf of the Xenia Scouts on Sunday for a scorching double header at Athletes in Action Sports Complex. Camden put their unbeaten record on the line in their first matchup with the expansion Scouts, and Xenia would prove to be up for the challenge.
Michael Cookson, fresh off his 2nd career no-hitter, was sent to the mound to tangle with Scouts skipper Ryan MacFarlane in game 1. Each pitcher put up nothing but zeros through the first four innings before the Scouts finally broke through in the 5th. They added a run in the 6th, and 2 more in the 7th which would prove to be the only runs in the contest. Cookson turned in a solid outing, striking out 9 and allowed just 7 hits on the afternoon, but he would end up being saddled with the loss as Camden’s offense simply could not get anything going against MacFarlane. The Redlegs wound up with only 4 hits in the game. Brandon Howard doubled and Jacob Robinson, Mike Hartman, and Matt Mattice each singled.
Game two was a bit of a different story, though things did get off to a rocky start. With Camden down to only 9 players, the heat was beginning to take a toll. The good news was that Aaron Carmack arrived fresh and ready to hit the mound. This displeased the wasps of AIA’s dugouts, and in a calculated maneuver one wasp went straight for the ace’s throwing arm, stinging him as he made his way out of the dugout for his first pitch.
The wasp’s nefarious plans would all be for naught however, as Carmack hit the hill unperturbed and promptly fired 4 scoreless innings to start the game.
Meanwhile Camden’s offense, laying in wait for much of the afternoon, finally erupted in support of Carmack. They quickly put two runs on the board in the 2nd inning Brandon Howard and Brad Malott singled consecutively to start the inning. Howard would later score on a throwing error and Malott crossed the plate thanks to a wild pitch. They then tacked two more on in the 4th. Saige Micomonaco doubled to start the inning, followed by a base hit by Brandon Howard. James Robinson later singled in a run before Cameron Svarda plated the next run to make it a 4-0 game.
The 5th is where the wheels really fell off for the Scouts. Camden’s first 7 batters all reached with no outs recorded. Jacob Robinson reached on an error, Mike Hartman singled, and both scored on a double by Micomonaco. Brandon Howard then singled, before Brad Malott brought a run in with a base hit. James Robinson followed with a hit to drive two more home. Svarda then reached on an error. Later Matt Morrison delivered an RBI single, Robinson walked, setting up Micomonaco’s 2nd two-run hit of the inning. When the dust settled, Camden held a 13-0 advantage.
The Scouts finally got to Carmack in the 5th as they sent 9 hitters to the plate which yielded 6 runs, cutting the advantage to 13-6.
James Robinson and Cameron Svarda each singled to start out the 6th for Camden, then Carmack walked to load the bases. A fielding miscue led to two runners scoring, later another scored to extend the Redleg lead to 16-6.
Brad Malott took over on the mound and tossed a quiet 6th and 7th innings. The Scouts did score one run on one hit, but Malott punched out two hitters to put the game away without any further excitement.
These two clubs will face off again next weekend in one 9-inning affair at 1:00pm at Madison High School.