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The Ben Lippen Falcons scored three runs in the fourth inning and two in the fifth to defeat the Hammond Skyhawks 5-2 Tuesday, March 19 at Folsom Field.
While Ben Lippen’s bats eventually caught fire, the pitching of Thatcher Baughman and Hammond’s Jack Miller dominated early. They faced only 17 batters combined through the first two-and-a-half innings and forced outs on 16 of those at-bats.
Hammond’s offense broke through first in the bottom of the third when Worth Lundy launched a lead-off home run over the left field fence to put the Skyhawks in front 1-0.
The dramatics weren’t finished. Preston Springs singled, Ben Kirkpatrick hit into a fielder’s choice, Jack Croft singled, and Miller walked to load the bases with two outs. Along the way, Ben Lippen’s Mason O’Cain allowed a squeeze bunt attempt to go foul, keeping a run off the board for Hammond. That play proved to be crucial, as Brewer Lamotte hit into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.
Hammond’s Worth Lundy catches a pop fly against Ben Lippen.
“Mason is a two-year starter for us. He’s the heart and soul of the team,” Ben Lippen head coach Brian Larsen said. “It was a heads up play. It looked like he was going to pick it up. He didn’t, and we ended up getting the guy out. Thatcher competed his butt off and got us out of a spot where they could have added a couple of more runs. It was huge for us moving forward in the game.”
“We had a three-pitch inning the inning before then,” Baughman said. “We were rushed a little bit. I went out there and tried to compete. I wanted to keep the ball game in hand for my team and finish the job.”
Ben Lippen’s offense built on the defensive momentum leading off with a walk to Ty Fajardo in the top of the fourth. Then Sean Lee was hit by a pitch, and O’Cain bunted to leave Fajardo and Lee in scoring position with one out. Jack Luthren followed with a bloop single to left field, scoring Fajardo. Baughman then grounded out, scoring Lee to give the Falcons a 2-1 lead. Carlos Iruegas also singled, scoring Luthren to put the Falcons up 3-1.
The momentum carried over to the top of the fifth beginning with a double from Micah Ott. Then Fajardo and Noah Shevchik singled to put two on with one out. Lee grounded out, scoring Shevchik to extend Ben Lippen’s lead to 4-1. O’Cain followed with a single, scoring Fajardo to push the Falcons’ lead to 5-1.
“As well as we did, I was disappointed we didn’t add a couple more because we really had the opportunity to do that,” Larsen said. “Our kids fight. We’ve been in every ball game. We have some injuries, but they battle. That was a much needed bounce back offensively those last few innings of the game after struggling early.”
Hammond rallied in the bottom half of the inning when Springs reached on an error. Two batters later, Jack Croft grounded out, scoring Springs to trim the deficit to 5-2.
The Skyhawks threatened in the sixth getting two on with two outs, but Fajardo gunned down Sam Porter at the plate from centerfield to end the inning. Ott then came on in the seventh to get the save for the Falcons forcing a ground-out and fanning two.
Baughman picked up the win for Ben Lippen pitching six complete innings. He gave up one earned run on four hits and struck out eight. He also had an RBI at the plate.
O’Cain and Luthren each went 1-for-2 with an RBI. Iruegas went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Lee had an RBI.
Miller went five complete innings for Hammond giving up five runs on six hits. He struck out one. Springs went 2-for-3. Lundy went 1-for-2 with the home run. Croft was 1-for-3 with an RBI.
“It’s been a while with Hammond,” Larsen said. “ They are a good baseball team. Coach (Chris) Braciszewski does a great job. Coming here and beating them is big for us. We’ve had some tight ones. We have a bit of a young team. Coming here on the road was huge for our confidence. It was huge as we move forward.”
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