Treasure Valley ‘A’ Stars defeat Middleton 7-1
Horn pitches three-hit complete game
By Ray Rodriguez
Argus Observer
Friday, July 4, 2008 11:32 AM PDT
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| Ray Rodriguez | Argus Observer
Treasure Valley Stars runner Nate Rutten slides safely at home while Middleton catcher Chris Elliott stretches for the throw from the outfield during the third inning of their American Legion baseball game Thursday in Fruitland. The Stars won 7-1. |
Fruitland—Riley Horn tossed a complete game three-hitter with three strikeouts, and the Treasure Valley ‘A’ Stars racked up 12 hits in its 7-1 defeat of Middleton in American Legion baseball action Thursday in Fruitland.
Moments after the game, Stars head coach Russ Wright made the hardest decision he has been faced with all summer.
Wright promoted assistant coach Vic Martarano to the pitching coach slot and demoted pitching coach Todd Blackwell to an equipment quality control position in charge of shoe string knots.
The changes were all in jest, of course.
Or was it?
With Martarano at the controls calling the game, Horn shut down Middleton through the final four frames and allowed one hit and one base runner to advance to third base.
Horn also received a helping hand from his defense, as five Middleton runners were gunned down on the base paths.
Offensively, the Stars put forth a workmanlike effort, scoring two times in the first and added single runs in the second and third frames.
In Saturday’s 2-0 loss against Centennial, the Stars went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and could not get any momentum started.
Thursday, the script was flipped.
With two outs in the first inning, Brady Harris kicked things off with a single, and Daulton Blackwell followed with an RBI triple.
Nate Rutten followed Blackwell’s heroics with a clutch RBI Single to left to give Treasure Valley a 2-0 lead.
In the second frame, Chase Fields added a two-out RBI single scoring Joe Martarano, and in the third, Miguel Rios tacked on a two-out RBI single scoring Rutten, who reached base on a double, to give the Stars a 4-1 advantage.
The score remained the same until the bottom of the sixth, where the Stars tallied three insurance runs.
With one out in the sixth, Akia Nawahine kicked off the rally with a walk and a stolen base. Brad Huddleston cracked an opposite field RBI double to make the score 5-1. Huddleston advanced to third on a passed ball, and Fields followed with an RBI bunt single on an attempted squeeze play.
Fields swiped second base, advanced to third on a groundout by Horn and scampered home on a wild pitch for the Stars’ final tally.
Horn entered in the top of the seventh and retired Middleton in order to preserve the win.
Fields, Harris, Blackwell, Rutten and Rios knocked two hits apiece, while teammates Tyler Graves and Huddleston chipped in a hit each.
“We got some timely hits, which is what we didn’t get against Centennial,” Wright said. “It seemed like we got some good at-bats where we got four or five base hits with runners in scoring position.”
Treasure Valley (16-7 overall) next travels to Mountain View for a doubleheader Saturday.
Game 1
R H E
Middleton 001 000 0 — 1 3 2
TV ‘A’ Stars 211 003 x — 7 12 4
Hodges, Fuller (6) and Elliott; Horn and D. Blackwell. WP—Horn. LP—Hodges. SO/BB—Hodges 2/1, Fuller 0/1; Horn 7/5. HR—None. 3B—D. Blackwell (TV). 2B—Pancheri (M); D. Blackwell (TV), Rutten (TV). RBI—Fields 2 (TV), D. Blackwell (TV), Rutten (TV), Rios (TV), Huddleston (TV). Hits — Pancheri 1-3, Shaey 1-3, Hodges 1-2, Crow 0-1 run, Elliott 0-2 walk; Treasure Valley — Fields 2-4 run SB, Harris 2-4 run, D. Blackwell 2-4 run, Rutten 2-3 run, Rios 2-3, Martarano 0-3 run, Graves 1-2, A. Nawahine 0-0 walk SB run, Huddleston 1-2 run SAC.
