Jeremy Richey, head coach of the Seymour Owls baseball team, says sure, he would love to see his team get some wins and build some momentum going into the sectional.
But equally important to him is how much the Owls are improving.
Even though the Owls lost 7-3 to Bedford North Lawrence in the Hoosier Hills Conference Tournament at American Legion Field on Friday night, he likes the progress he saw from his team.
“I just told the guys, if you look at results only, we went 0-3 in the conference tournament, but the reality is in each of those games, we closed the gap on the opponents that we played. We’re getting better," he said.
“We just have to get through the next phase and start winning some of those games because we’ve played better the second time we’ve played opponents, and I’m proud of that," he said. "I’m proud of the effort, but the reality is we have to do a better job of executing.”
Both teams came out swinging hot bats early, as the Stars held a 5-2 lead after two innings of play.
With one out in the top of the first, Cole Karr doubled to left-center and came home on a single by Whitt Callahan.
Vince Wilson led off the bottom of the first by reaching first base on an error. Bret Perry followed with a single. Wilson scored on a wild pitch, and Brayden Wilson singled to drive in Perry. It was his 18th RBI of the season.
The Stars (16-8) received two walks and pounded out two doubles and a single to score four runs in the top of the second to lead 5-2. Colton Brown had the big hit, a two-run double.
Seymour left the bases loaded in the fourth inning and stranded 10 runners for the game.
“We’re leaving too many guys on base,” Richey said. “We’ve got to get some big hits. They scored six of their seven runs in two innings where we walked and hit multiple people, and when you don’t have a bunch of strikeout pitchers, you can’t do that because the ball is going to be put in play, and when they put it in play, you’ve got to get outs. They’re going to score runs, and that is just the reality of it.”
Perry led off the fifth with a walk and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Aiden Darlage.
Seymour stranded one runner in the sixth and left two on in the seventh.
BNL, meanwhile, used two hits, a hit batsman and a walk to score two insurance runs in the top of the seventh.
The Stars collected eight hits and received four walks off SHS hurlers Treyton McCormick and Darlage.
Seymour finished with five hits, getting two each in the first and fourth innings.
No Seymour player had two hits. Charlie Longmeier was on base three times with a double and two walks. Vince Wilson and Darlage were on base via an error and a walk, and Perry was on with a hit and a walk and scored two runs.
Longmeier played center field for the Owls and saved some runs with his running catches. He had seven catches, including two each in the third and fifth innings.
“He went and got the ball. That’s why he is our center fielder," Richey said. "We know that he can get to a lot of balls. He took some big hits away from them. He did a really nice job for us, but that’s what we expect from Charlie. He’s an athletic kid. He’s played a lot of center field and picked us up a little bit today.”
The Owls will travel to Charlestown on Tuesday and host Trinity Lutheran on Thursday.
“We know what our problems are,” Richey said. “We’re through 18 games (9-9). We’ve got to improve on what we’re doing from his point on because we can’t keep talking about inexperience. The good news is I don’t feel like I did on Wednesday (losing to Jennings County). We were better offensively, and that’s a step in the right direction. Now, we just have to get some of those big hits.”
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Bedford;140;000;2;-7;8;3
Seymour;200;010;0;-3;5;1
Seymour hits: Charlie Longemier, Bret Perry, Brayden Wilson, Brandon Hubbard, Andrew Levine: 2B: Longmeier; runs: Perry 2, Vince Wilson; RBI: B. Wilson, Aiden Darlage
Seymour pitching: Treyton McCormick 5 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 2 K, 1 W; Aiden Darlage 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 K, 2 W
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