Paints Defeat Bombers

Chillicothe 4, Dubois County 1

The Chillicothe Paints made their first trip out to Huntingburg, Indiana for the first time a long, long time. The last time the Paints played a team from Huntingburg, they played against the Dubois County Dragons of the Frontier League. That can now be archived because the Paints faced a new Dubois County team in the form of the Bombers. The odd thing about the setup for this game was that both teams were wearing very similar styles of jerseys. Both teams were wearing blue jerseys with red numbers and letters. The only difference that you could point out would be that the Paints wore gray pants, and the Bombers wore white.

Stephen Shackleford took the mound for the Paints in this game. Make no mistake about it, he did a great job considering everything that went on defensively for the Paints. Shackleford went 8 innings deep in his start, giving up hits, a walk, and a run, but take note that the run he gave up was an unearned run. The Paints got shaky defensively in the fourth inning as they gave up a run to the Bombers making it a 2-1 game at the time. Shackleford would strike out 5 batters, so overall, he made a solid start otherwise. The only thing that you could really put on Stephen would be that his pickoff throws nearly escaped first baseman Kris McDonough. Chadd Steinborn pitched the ninth inning and got the job done, striking out a batter and retiring the Bombers.

For the offense, third baseman Zach Leonard had a single. Catcher Andrew Marshall had a 2-RBI double and a single. Shortstop Ben Allen was probably the most poised and focused Paints batter in the lineup, as he was batting seventh in the order, but he still got in a couple of hits. Ben got in a single and then drove in 2 RBI's with a triple in the top of the eighth inning. Tim Krofcheck had a bunt infield single. The one thing that was alluding the offense all night in the other game against the Slippery Rock Sliders at home was more present with the offense on the road against the Bombers. The Paints showed better plate discipline, and it came into play with the timely hitting late in the game.

First baseman Matt Abro had to leave the Paints because of academic duties that he had to fulfill back in the Detroit area. He has to pass a test to be elligible for college ball later on this year, according to Greg Bigam via the radio broadcast. With that said, the Paints will now have to be looking to fill a roster spot since Abro is now gone. Kris McDonough, usually playing as a catcher in Ohio University, made the start at first base, but the results from this game kind of showed that he's not used to playing first base. The Paints do still have Cory Maguire, but they will need more support for that position just out of precautionary measures. It should be interesting to see what comes out of this.