Paints Get The Job Done

Chillicothe 4, Butler 1

This game featured one of the best bursts of offense that the Paints have shown in quite a while. Looking at the scoreboard going into the bottom of tthe seventh inning, you could see that a familiar script was being played out once again by the guys in the white jerseys, something that had been a thorn in their sides for this past week. Although being down by a score of 1-0 late in the game looked bad, there was always that chance of coming back. After all, it was only a one run lead for Butler, so anything was possible.

Blake Mascarello made his first start of the season for the Paints. He has often been the guy who comes in relief of pitchers when they need the help. In this game, Mascarello started things off on the mound, and it turned out that Blake was a pleasant surprise. He would give up 4 hits and a walk, but he strike out six batters on the night, and he would hang in there for a good seven innings. Now even though that throughout his start he was on the short end, Mascarello held his own, and he kept the Paints in the ballgame, because unlike other games where the flood of runs would continue to pour in, the runs for Butler simply stopped at just numero uno.

Krist Linster and Chadd Steinborn also did their jobs in keeping the Blue Sox at bay for this game. They did not surrender any runs at all, and between the two relief pitchers, they only gave up one hit. Yes, one hit and that was it. Linster gave up the only hit in the late innings while Steinborn gave up just a pair of walks. I have noticed that the pitching staff is more capable of bouncing back at an earlier rate than the hitting squad can. Pitching is slightly more valuable in the sense that you need stoppers against opposing offenses that may be blazing with base hit material or with brute home run power. I've learned over the years that you can just never have enough good pitching. Solid pitching staffs come only once in a while.

For the offense, shortstop Ben Allen had an infield single and a double. Left fielder Andy Brouse was, by all means, sizzling around the basepaths, as he had a double and a triple. Right fielder Eian Banks had an RBI double. DH Zach Frentsos looked really impressive at the plate in this game, as he had two doubles and an RBI. Frentsos has been stroking the ball more properly in his recent trips to the plate. He's starting to make the right adjustments when it comes to the wooden bats. He did start off slow, but if he keeps this up, then I have a feeling that we'll see him get more starts in the outfield. Kyle Gendron had a pinch hit RBI single in the seventh inning.

Overall, a great bouncing back for the offense in this game. I was impressed with the resiliency here. This has been missing in recent games for whatever reason, but in front of the home crowd and knowing that the last three games you had at your backyard were all losses, you knew that the Paints had more than enough motivation to get this win in and make their hits important in the late innings. Sometimes, you just have to have that sense of urgency once in a while. I don't prefer reacting under the pressure all the time, but if you need a motivational tool, then it doesn't hurt to react under the pressure then. In that sense, you're challenging yourself.

I saw Butler Blue Sox manager Jason Wuerfel, and obviously, he was enjoying himself having fun with his team. I would like to tell Jason right now (and I'm sure he will read this) that I didn't have the time to talk to him, unfortunately because I was preoccupied with some stuff unrelated to baseball, such as what I would like to do in the future, but I want to say that I'm really glad that he wanted to come to the Prospect League and manage. I'm thankful that for some of the coaches in this league, there are indeed familiar faces that used to be in the Frontier League. Sure enough, I'll get to talk to Jason, and that will be a fun time. I would like to thank Jason for his support of me.