Elkhart Tripped up by Groesbeck, 6-5
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
GROESBECK – The Elkhart Elks hit the road on Tuesday afternoon to take on the Groesbeck Goats in a District 20-3A matchup.
The Elks came into the contest with a 5-7-1 mark while the Groesbeck squad had posted a mark of 8-8. Both teams had played easily won their first district game and looked to make it two in a row.
For the first half of the game, it looked as if the Elks would move to 2-0 in league play but a two-run third and four-run fourth did in the Elks as they fell by a final score of 6-5.
The Elks jumped out early on the Goats as they opened up a 3-0 lead after the first half-inning of play. Back-to-back singles from Hunter Evans and Corban Whitfield put two runners on the base paths with no outs.
Following a fly ball out by Zerick Warren, Connor Walker reached on an infield hit to load the bases. Steve Gonzales flew out to deep center which allowed Evans enough time to tag up and scamper home with the game’s first run.
A single by Luke Johnson drove in Whitfield while Walker took second on the play. Jhonathon Meyer followed with a single to shallow center which allowed Walker to motor home from second to make the score 3-0.
After the Elks recorded the final out of the first, Corban Whitfield took the mound for Elkhart. After giving up a lead-off single to Memphis Waddle, Whitfield walked Garrett Gruell. Fortunately, the Elks’ pitcher settled down after the walk and struck out the next three batters he faced to escape the inning unscathed.
A scoreless second gave way to the third and the Elks padded their lead thanks to Groesbeck errors. Following a Zerick Warren groundout, Connor Walker laced a pitch into left and took second on an errant throw.
A second error in the inning by the Goats allowed Steve Gonzales to reach and moved Walker to third. Luke Johnson was hit by a pith to load the bases and when Meyer hit into a fielder’s choice, Walker crossed the plate to make the score 4-0.
Zach Wilson relieved Colter Copeland on the mound and managed to strike out the Elks’ Garret Burch to end the top of the third.
The Goats struck back in the bottom half of the inning as they plated two on a Copeland RBI and a steal of home by Garrett Gruell.
Elkhart was held scoreless in the top of the fourth but Groesbeck erupted for four runs to take the lead 6-4. Meyer took over for Whitfield on the mound and shut down the Goats offense the rest of the game.
After he balked in a run, Meyer struck out Maddux Moody to end the inning. He then struck out the side in the fifth and sixth, only allowing a one-out walk to Gruell in the bottom of the sixth.
Elkhart had one last chance in the seventh. Evans reached on an error and moved to second when Whitfield walked. Evans stole third but was held up when Warren hit into a fielder’s choice at second.
Richard Carrillo came in to run for Evans at third while Garrett Krumnow came in to run for Warren at first.
With two outs, Steve Gonzales singled to right to drive in Carrillo but that was as close as the Elks would get as Johnson grounded out to third to end the game with Groesbeck picking up the 6-5 win.
Corban Whitfield took the loss for the Elks as he gave up six unearned runs on four hits. He also struck out seven and walked two. Jhonathon Meyer came on in relief to pitch 2.2 innings of shutout ball. He didn’t give up a hit, struck out eight and walked two.
Zach Wilson picked up the win for the Goats with 4.2 innings of relief action. He gave up one run on two hits, struck out six and walked one.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
