Tattnall Square baseball tops Stratford for second time in three days
Playing Tattnall Square twice in the same week is not an easy task for any team.
And while Stratford battled once again Thursday night, the Eagles couldn't get over the hump in a 3-0 loss to the Trojans.
Tattnall improved to 10-3 overall and 4-0 in GHSA Region 7A-A.
Cory Bartholomew hit a two-run homer in the first inning, and that was all the run support that Tattnall's Garrett Houston needed, as he allowed only four hits while striking out 13.
Stratford sophomore Clifton Olmstead struggled early, throwing 29 pitches in the first inning, but he settled down and kept the potent Tattnall offense scoreless for the next four innings after the first-inning homer. The Trojans finally chased him in the bottom of the sixth when they strung together three straight hits, although that led to only one run.
Stratford threatened in the top of the seventh when Aaron Arnold walked and Jack Peterson singled, but Houston settled down and retired the next three hitters for the complete-game win.
THREE WHO MATTERED
Houston: The junior right-hander allowed only four hits, and only four Stratford runners advanced as far as second base. He also added a run-scoring single in the sixth.
Bartholomew: Bartholomew, who threw a complete game on Tuesday against Stratford, connected on a long homer to center for all the runs Tattnall needed.
Olmstead: After struggling early, Olmstead settled down and gave Stratford a quality start. He struck out four batters and walked three and did not allow a hit in one four-inning span.
TURNING POINT
Bartholomew's home run in the first inning gave Tattnall an early lead, and although the Trojans were basically shut down for the remainder of the game, Houston was just too good on the mound for Stratford to overcome.
OBSERVATION
Struggling bats: Stratford was shut out for six innings in Tuesday night's game before scoring four runs in the final inning, and the Eagles could not manage to score a run in Thursday's game.
THEY SAID IT
Tattnall head coach Joey Hiller on his team's performance: "It is hard not to be happy about getting two region wins this week, but we have to do a better job of hitting the baseball. Once again, we got a great outing on the mound, this time from Garrett, but we have a lot of work to do. We had runner on second and third with no out in the sixth inning, and we could not score. We have to be better than that."
Houston on the importance of finishing the game: "I was starting to get tired in the last inning, but I really wanted to finish this game. Stratford is always a big rival for us, and I just tried to settle down and let my defense make plays for me."
Stratford head coach Tyler Brown, when asked if there was such a thing as a good loss at this time of year: "I don't think there are good losses right now. We got a great performance from Olmstead, but we could not come up with a hit when we needed one. I don't know, I think we proved that we deserve to be on the field with them, but it's still frustrating to lose."
WHAT'S NEXT?
Stratford travels to Athens Christian on Monday while Tattnall is at FPD on Tuesday.
This story was originally published March 17, 2016 at 10:48 PM with the headline "Tattnall Square baseball tops Stratford for second time in three days ."