LEGION BASEBALL: Speakers lose regional opener
Aug. 3—MIDLAND, Mich. — The Danville Post 210 Speakers started their drive at the Great Lakes Regional on Wednesday and went right into a pitcher's duel.
Post 210's Gavin Parkerson and Swisher, Iowa's Reid Burkle battled in the first four innings, but Swisher had a little more offense in a 3-0 win in the first game of the regional.
"They were able to squeak out some hits. They were not hit hard, but they got through the holes," Post 210 coach Brent Hart said. "Hats off to those guys and they have a great staff at Iowa."
Burkle had seven strikeouts in five innings while Maddux Frese had two strikeouts in two innings.
"(Burkle) had a four-pitch that spotted well. He was ahead of most of the batters and he could hit the corners," Hart said.
Parkerson had six strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings, while Blake Norton had two strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings.
Drew Pinkston, Braxton Waller and Josh Young were each able to get a hit for the Speakers, but the offense could not do much against Swisher pitching.
"We failed to execute a few bunts, but I don't know if it would have made a difference," Hart said. "Tomorrow, we are going to have to string together some hits if we want to score. We can't get one or two hits and go from there."
The Speakers started their trip on Tuesday when they left Danville Stadium early in the morning and also made a stop along the way.
"The trip was good. We picked up the guys from Barrington and went with them," Hart said. "We get along great with those guys. It was a long bus ride, but everyone had a long bus ride except Midland. It is a nice experience for these guys to get recognized as one of the top 64 teams in the country."
Post 210 had their game at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday and the Speakers will once again play at 9:30 a.m. today against Linwood, Mich. Linwood lost 9-1 to Janesville, Wis. on Wednesday.
"We got curfews every night so the kids should be ready to go like they were today, it was just the kid on the mound just had a great arm," Hart said.
If the Speakers win, they will play again on Friday at 4 p.m.
