Pirates continue their winning ways

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A no-hitter pitched by Elias Polito and three consecutive in-the-park home runs made for an exciting first game of a double header as the Green River Pirates hosted the Wendover Wildcats on Friday.
Though the Wendover Wildcats share similar colors with the Pirates, it was the green and white of the home team that most enjoyed this day on the field. You could feel the excitement generated by the games. Elias was finding the strike zone which made for a tough day for the Wildcats; while Holden Marshall pounded the ball deep into left field. He turned on the speed and made it to home well ahead of the throw.
The next batter up was Jason Johnson who put one long into center field and he too motored around the bases ahead of the ball. Keith Clark was the next batter for the Pirates and his team mates were teasing him to put it deep and make it home. Well, not to be out done by the other two, Keith dropped one over the head of the right fielder who lost the ball while in the air. The time it took for the second baseman to help out gave Keith just enough time to use his new found speed to make it safely home.
The crowd and team were pretty darn excited. Good pitching by Elias and good defense made for the no-hitter and the game was called by the 10 run rule.
The next game was much like the first but this time Adrian Escalante was on the mound for the Pirates. Adrian wasn’t able to manage a no-hitter but did keep the Wildcats on their paws as he found the strike zone early and often. As a one-man wrecking crew, Adrian followed the lead from his team mates in the previous game and ran the bases before the throw made it to the catcher.
Game two was also called by the 10 run rule. Next up for the Pirates is a home game against ICS.
The first batter up for the ICS Lions looked glassy eyed as he watched the 3-2 pitch thrown by Justin Johnson pass over the plate and called for a strike – one down. The next batter up makes it to first and takes an aggressive lead off the bag. The third batter lines one to Keith Clark at third base; Keith makes the catch for the second out and throws to Caleb White on first base to catch the runner trying to make it back to the plate. Three up and three down on a nice double play to start the game – beautiful defense and pitching – great way to begin the game.
The bottom of the first inning wasn’t quite as nice with Justin flying out to left, Adrian called out on strikes and Holden smacking one to the short stop for an out at first.
The second inning had ICS getting two runs and adding two more in the third while the Pirates managed one run in the second inning and another in the third to make it a 4-2 game.
In the bottom of the fourth inning Haden Pfander is the first batter up but hits to the short stop and is thrown out at first. Elias Polito is next up and smacks a nice base hit into right field. Caleb White is next up but pops one straight up and the catcher makes an easy out – ouch. The Pirates have two down in the inning and are two down on the scoreboard. Up next is Daniel Hales who drives one near the second baseman who bobbles the ball which makes for a close call at the plate, but the tie goes to the runner. Sarah Swalberg was put on the bag for Daniel who in the excitement twisted his ankle as he tagged the plate.
While Justin Johnson is at the plate, Sarah steals second base and Justin gets on base with a walk. Adrian Escalante steps to the bag and drills the first pitch into deep left field. Sarah and Justin motor around the bases to tie the game. Justin Johnson and Holden Marshall were able to keep the Lions caged with some good pitching and with some help from the field.
In the bottom of the sixth inning the Pirates got two quick outs and their hopes of going ahead were getting dashed. Sarah Swalberg stepped up to the plate on an 0 – 1 pitch she took one for the team which put her on first. At the top of the line up came Justin Johnson who took a 2 – 0 pitch and sent it over second base for a base hit putting him on first and Sarah on second.
With two outs and runners on first and second, Adrian Escalante plays around with the Lions pitcher for a spell fouling one off and getting a 2 – 2 count before he drops one deep into left field sending Sarah and Justin across home plate. Pirates up 2.
As the top of the seventh inning began, you could feel the excitement. The Pirates were up by two and the Lions were at the top of their line up.
The first batter for the ICS Lions got on first as did the second. The third batter up hit one to hard on the ground straight to Keith Clark who stepped on third and threw to first for a much needed double play. Right out of the play book, it worked perfectly. The scoring threat was taken care of and an extra out to boot.
The next batter up made it to first on a walk while the one player on second took advantage of a passed ball by the catcher and made it to third. The stage was set. Runners on first and third with the go ahead run at bat. The count was 2 – 2 and Holden Marshall focused in on the target striking the batter out looking.
The Green River Pirates are now 500 for the season (6-6) with the next game coming against Wasatch Academy during Melon Days Sept. 18.