CHS Hangs Tough in Loss

By Daniel Elsesser

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Contributing Writer

The Chiefland Indians baseball team fell to former division rival P.K. Yonge 4-0 Tuesday, remaining winless on the road this season and moving its overall record to 2-6.   

P.K. Yonge (10-3), which this season moved up to Division 3A, coupled staunch pitching with two-run innings in the second and fourth to edge out Chiefland and increase its winning streak to eight games.  

Chiefland starting pitcher Travis Wayne surrendered four earned runs off of four hits through four innings, striking out one batter and walking three.  Manager Kyle Parnell pulled Wayne to keep his pitch count low. 

 Overall Wayne’s pitching was varied and tight, and he only allowed hits from the second, third and fourth batters in P.K. Yonge’s lineup.  

Parnell noted that Wayne’s performance was a bright spot in a Chiefland effort devoid of offense.  

 “Travis looked good tonight, he did a good job of finding the plate,” Parnell said.  “When you play against a team like P.K. Yonge, and he’s only giving up four runs, he’s doing a good job of keeping us in the ballgame.”

P.K. Yonge pitching staff retired 11 batters through six innings, walking two and allowing no earned runs off two hits.  

The two hits came in the sixth, giving Chiefland its best opportunity to close the gap.  Tim Reddy singled and James Corbin advanced him to third with another one-bagger.  Both runners were stranded, however, as the remaining Chiefland batters were retired.  

In the seventh, the Blue Wave closed the game with three more strikeouts.  In total, P.K. Yonge’s pitching staff notched 14 total strikeouts, two out of every three Chiefland batters.

Parnell acknowledged the anemic offensive performance, but said there were many positives and appreciated how his relatively inexperienced team was coming together.  

“We’re getting settled in, working together a little bit better,” Parnell said.  “We’re tinkering with things a little right now.  But tonight we had no errors, no elementary mistakes, and right now we’re really learning about ourselves.”