Members of the Fairbanks High School baseball team are pictured after officially dedicating the Blake Gorton Memorial Batting Cage on Wednesday. They are pictured with Gorton’s mother Allison, sister Grace and father Todd. The younger Gorton died from injuries sustained during a single-vehicle traffic accident in early March.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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There are times when the game of baseball is flat out unfair.
Take for example, Fairbanks’ game on Wednesday against West Liberty-Salem.
Panther senior pitcher Max Snyder pitched a stellar game. He scattered three hits against one of the top teams in the Ohio Heritage Conference. Snyder, who will play on the collegiate level at Wooster, put seven punchouts in the book and walked only one.
A potent Tiger offensive attack managed to score only one earned run.
It was, however, the two unearned runs the visitors scored that led to FHS’ 3-2 setback.
“Max pitched a great game,” said Panther coach Josh Rine. “As a matter of fact, it was one of the best games I’ve ever seen him pitch.”
The Tigers plated all of their runs in the top of the fifth, after Fairbanks had taken a 2-0 edge during the home half of the opening inning.
The unearned runs came after a Panther fielding miscue.
“We made that one mistake and it cost us,” said Rine, whose team slipped to an overall .500 mark (10-10) and dropped to 8-6 in the OHC North Division.
Snyder had smooth sailing during the first four innings.
He retired 12 of the first 13 batters he faced. The only blemish during that time was a lead-off walk in the top of the second.
Of those 12 outs, five came on K’s.
The Panther pitcher was staked to a 2-0 lead during FHS’ first turn at the plate.
Hayden Queen led off with a single and swiped second.
He took third on a wild pitch as Dayne Madison was drawing a free pass.
Snyder grounded out into a fielder’s choice that brought in Fairbanks’ first run.
Zavier Payne reached safely on a Tiger fielding miscue.
Aiden Luellen then doubled to push FHS out to a 2-0 lead.
Tiger lefty Eli Allen got stronger as the game progressed.
His defense was also stellar as the Panthers stranded five runners through six innings.
“West Liberty’s pitcher kept us off-balance for most of the game,” admitted Rine.
Things unraveled for Fairbanks when the Tigers came to the plate in the visitors’ portion of the fifth inning.
Sam Lauck legged out an infield single to begin the frame.
Isaiah Reames then reached on an error.
Lauck scored on Austin Olejniczak’s base hit and Reese Oder tied the game at 2-2 with a sacrifice fly.
The go-ahead run came when Olejniczak scored on a wild pitch.
Snyder put the Tigers down without too much trouble in the top of the sixth.
Luellen was plunked by a pitch and Carson Reames reached safely on an error for FHS in the home half of that inning.
With two down, a bouncing ball in the infield prevented the Panthers from scoring.
Snyder, who had thrown 95 pitches (many as the result of numerous foul balls early in the game), yielded the mound to the lefty Reames as action moved into the seventh.
The freshman set West Liberty down in order, putting a pair of strikeouts on his line in the ledger.
“Carson doesn’t play like a freshman,” said Rine. “He is quite the competitor.”
Allen, however, remained strong until the very end.
He fanned the first two Panther batters in the bottom of the seventh.
The game then ended with a pop-up in the infield.
The Panthers had two more regular season games to play against Mechanicsburg and West Liberty after Wednesday’s game.
WLS 000 030 0-3 3 1
FHS 200 000 0-2 5 1
WP: Allen
LP: Snyder
A dedication to a fallen teammate
Prior to the start of Wednesday’s game, members of the Fairbanks baseball program officially dedicated the Blake Gorton Memorial Batting Cage.
The cage was constructed as a memorial to Gorton, a junior member of the squad, who died during a single-vehicle traffic accident on the evening of Saturday, March 2.
During the ceremony, Panther players wore T-shirts with Gorton’s initials and his No. 17.