Elkhart’s Meyer No-Hits Teague
Elks Slide by Lions, 7-0
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
ELKHART – The Elkhart Elks were in need of a boost. The Elks had been fairly consistent at the plate but the consistency of the pitching and fielding had sent Elkhart into a four-game skid.
Last Friday, Elkhart got the boost they needed as Jhonathon Meyer threw seven innings of no-hit ball against the Teague Lions to help guide his team to a 7-0 win. Meyer threw 97 pitches, struck out 18, walked two and faced two batters over the minimum.
The Lions were simply baffled at the plate. Meyer opened the game with a strikeout of Brylin Jackson and then promptly walked Jarrett Bodine. After that, Meyer needed only six pitches to record Ks against Luke Stacks and Jake Callahan.
When the Elks came in from the field in the bottom of the first, they wasted little time in seizing the early lead. Steve Gonzales led off with a single and trotted home on a Corban Whitfield double to the left-center field gap.
Whitfield stole third and on a full-count pitch, Zerick Warren tripled into center. Chase Walker came in to run for Warren and after Connor Walker fanned, Luke Johnson reached on an error that plated Ch. Walker.
Johnson took second on the error and came around to score when Meyer helped his cause with a single to right to make the score 4-0.
Meyer worked a 1-2-3 second inning as he got Cam Gonzales and Dawson Drake to swing at a pair of strike threes, while Barrett Maggard watched strike three cross the plate.
Elkhart tacked on another run in the second after Park Warren led off the inning with a walk. Gonzales K’d on three pitches but Whitfield followed with his second double of the game which advanced Warren to third.
Z. Warren was up next but couldn’t catch up to strike three. Co. Walker, however, followed with an infield single to push P. Warren across the plate and make the score 5-0.
In the third, Meyer struck out the side. His counterpart for Teague – Jake Callahan – sandwiched a walk in between three strikeouts of his own to move the game into the fourth inning.
Meyer needed only 12 pitches to work his way out of the fourth inning as he struck out the side once again. Callahan, however, struggled as he loaded the bases before striking out Meyer to end the inning.
The fifth inning saw Meyer strike out Gonzales and Drake before walking Maggard. The Lions’ baserunner could not advance, however, as Z. Warren threw down to first to pick off Maggard and end the inning.
Jarrett Bodine relieved Callahan on the mound to open the bottom of the fifth for Teague and promptly struck out the first two Elks he faced in Braiden Chambliss and Garrett Burch. P. Warren singled into right, stole second and moved to third when Gonzales singled through the middle of the infield.
Whitfield was next in the order and drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases. A walk to Z. Warren pushed Park Warren across the plate and was followed by a walk to Co. Walker which pushed Gonzales across the dish to make the score 7-0.
Meyer struck out the side once again in the top of the sixth and recorded his 18th K of the game in the seventh as the Elks picked up the 7-0 District 20-3A win.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
