YSE File Photo
It was the story of two different games Friday night in the first game of the OVL playoff game between the Hoptown Hoppers and the Fulton Railroaders. The first five innings belonged to the Hoppers as they bolted out to a 4-0 lead. After a pitching change to start the bottom of the sixth, it was Fulton the rest of the way, as the Railroaders rallied to take a 6-5 win.
The Hoptown Hoppers got five shutout innings from Jonathan Beymer and some cooperative fielding mistakes from the Fulton Railroaders to get to the lead. Beymer held Fulton scoreless for the first five innings despite battling some control issues. Twice in the first five innings, he had to get out of bases-loaded jams. In another inning, he had to get out of a Railroader threat with runners on second and third. He struck out seven but walked five over his five innings of work.
Fulton committed four errors in the first five innings but had no more over the final four innings as their rally got underway.
The Hoppers got on the board first in the top of the third. After back-to-back singles from Riley Garczynski and B.J. Banyon, Garczynski would score on a Railroader error to put Hoptown up 1-0.
The Hoppers extended the lead to 2-0 in the top of the fourth when Zayd Brannigan stole home after he reached base on a one-out single earlier in the inning.
Hoptown scored for the third consecutive inning when Patrick Walker led off the top of the fifth with a home run to right. The Hoppers made it 4-0 when Jojo Cruz grounded into a double play, scoring Riley Garczynski from third.
The Railroaders finally broke through when the Hoppers changed pitchers to start the bottom of the sixth. The first batter Bracken Rice faced took a 3-2 pitch over the right field fence to cut the Hoptown lead to 4-1. Fulton then came all the way back to tie the game at 4-4 in the 7th when they connected on back-to-back homers, a two-run blast, and a solo shot.
The Hoppers fended off the rally for a moment in the top of the 8th when Joe Sassi was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to put the Hoppers back up 5-4.
The final Fulton rally came with two outs in the bottom of the 8th inning. After a single and a walk, the Hoppers misplayed a ball hit to the outfield, allowing both runners to score, as the Railroaders took their first lead of the night at 6-5.
Hoptown would threaten in the top of the 9th, putting runners on second and third with two outs. However, Zayd Brannigan would fly out to left to end the game.
Riley Garczynski and B.J. Banyon each had big nights for the Hoppers with four hits each, as Hoptown peppered Railroader pitching for 14 hits. Patrick Walker finished 1-4 with a home run.
The Hoppers will try to keep their season alive when they host the Railroaders Saturday night at Christian County High School.
