Hot start helps Dutch Fork baseball stave off elimination

Dutch Fork parlayed a hot start at the plate to avoid elimination for the second time in the Class 4A District III baseball playoffs Tuesday night with a 7-4 victory over Boiling Springs.

The Silver Foxes collected eight of their 11 hits in the first two innings, and scored all seven runs in avenging a loss to the Bulldogs in the opening game of the playoffs. Dutch Fork will travel to T.L Hanna on Wednesday at 5 p.m. and must win twice to win the district and advance to the Upper State tournament. T.L. Hanna only needs one victory to advance.

“We wanted to jump on them early, and we found a way to do that,” Dutch Fork coach Casey Waites said. “They did a good job early of getting crooked numbers back-to-back, but I wish we could have carried that to the end. We know the challenge ahead of us, but we’re getting on the bus (Wednesday) and 1:30 and are just going to play.”

In the opening game last Thursday, Boiling Springs’ Josh Stempihar one-hit Dutch Fork (17-9) in a 7-1 win. It didn’t take long for the Silver Foxes to wipe that memory away.

The Silver Foxes loaded the bases in the first inning before Parker Shepherd delivered a bases-clearing double to left field. Nick Savage followed with a RBI groundout for a 4-0 lead.

Dutch Fork added three more runs in the second on a two-run single from Ward Hacklen and another RBI double by Shepard.

“Seeing someone twice, you know exactly what they’re going to do and how they want to pitch you,” Shepard said. “He had an indicator where he would move his arm when he was going to throw a curve ball, and keep it straight when he was throwing a fastball.”

That was more than enough support for Dutch Fork starter Mark Richardson. The senior right-hander allowed four runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings. He stranded at least one base runner in every inning to improve 3-1 on the season.

“Mark Richardson is humble and has waited for his moments,” Waites said. “I told him the other night when he pitched against those guys this wasn’t the last time he was going to have to pitch in a big game. He made his memory tonight.”

TJ Shook relieved Richardson with runners on second and third with one out in the sixth and promptly allowed a two-run double to make it 7-4. The inning ended when a double play was called when the second base umpire ruled the runner interfered with the Silver Foxes’ chances of turning a double play.

This story was originally published May 3, 2016 at 11:18 PM with the headline "Hot start helps Dutch Fork baseball stave off elimination."