MORAN — Fielding miscues were costly for Marmaton Valley High’s boys Thursday.
Marmaton Valley committed seven errors in their opener, a 14-5 loss to Yates Center, and six more in a 13-1 loss in the nightcap.
“We are young, and need to at least make the easy outs,” Marmaton Valley head coach Derek Scharff said.
Sage Hall pitched the opener and struck out 11 in seven innings. He allowed four hits and five walks.
“Sage pitched a good game,” Scharff said. “We didn’t field the ball very well behind him. This game should have been a lot closer than the score shows.”
Marmaton Valley twice left the bases loaded.
“We hit the ball well, but left a lot of runners,” Scharff said. “We will spend a lot of time fielding the ball in practice and try to get better.”
Hall also rapped three singles. Gage Adams singled twice, as did Jake Kress. Keagen Boyd, Chris Bowman, Colton Alexander and Dane Myers each had singles.
Yates Center scored six in the third inning to break open a 3-1 lead.
“We pitched two young guys (Colton Alexander and Greg Neria), and they did a good job throwing strikes,” Scharff said. “We put the bat on the ball pretty well, but couldn’t find any holes. Yates Center made a couple great plays on well-hit balls.”
Alexander gave up three hits and two walks in 2 2/3 innings. He struck out one. Neria gave up two walks and three hits in 2 1/3 innings. He also struck out one.
Kress had two singles. Hall and Alexander each singled once.
Statistics from Yates Center were unavailable.
Marmaton Valley resumes play Monday at Burlingame. Yates Center is at Erie Monday.
