By Marco Clark, exclusive to the Times
The Chiefs drop a tough one at home to the Pitkin Tigers, 3-2, Monday. At the start of the game, Cody Hamous strikes out Pitkin’s first batter and the Chiefs turn a double play to close out the first inning on defense. In the bottom of the first, the Chiefs’ first batter, Jay Boyt, is a designated hitter for Chris Poleman.
Boyt advances to first on four balls. The Chiefs second batter, Tristan Neitte, strikes out swinging for the first out while Boyt gets picked off attempting to steal second base. Haydon Helms goes down swinging to close the first with the score 0-0. After three innings, both Pitkin and NCHS were searching for any type of spark to get their offense going. Both coaches used pinch-hitters to counter the alternating pitchers that were affecting the teams batting performance.
Picking up action in the bottom of the fourth, Neitte scored the first run of the game off a single by Josh Fortenberry. The top of the fifth was the turning point for the Pitkin Tigers. They picked up two runs while blanking the Chiefs in the bottom of the fifth. The Chiefs would answer with a run in the bottom of the sixth to tie giving them a chance rally and take the lead, but a pop fly to left stopped the scoring advance of Richard Lindsey to retire the inning knotted up at 2.
Pitkin sealed the deal in the seventh by taking a lead after Richard Lindsey intentionally walked two Pitkin batters. This gave the Tigers a runner in scoring position. The runner scores on a passed ball by Lindsey to up their lead 3-2. The Chiefs went on to get three outs with a chance at bat to tie or the win. The Chiefs next four batters could not rally to score giving the Pitkin Tigers the win. Next up for the Chiefs is a home district game against the Ruston Bearcats Thursday, Apr. 12. Start time is 5:30 p.m.