CRESTVIEW — Monday was not a good night for Crestview High School’s baseball team.
An up and down Bulldog team hosted a strong Pace squad looking for a win before taking a couple of days off for Spring Break.
Crestview ended up on the wrong side of a 7-1 score. Bulldog Coach Tim Gillis wasn’t looking for a silver lining in the cloud of another loss, but he was able to find some positives.
Crestview-Pace baseball photos>>>
“I thought we played a lot better (than against Lincoln on March 16),” he said. “Obviously, moral victories ain’t what we are looking for. Tonight I thought we competed a little bit better.
“We got down five early and that puts you in a bind especially against good teams. I thought Colter (Hancock) came in and did a good job and held them to two runs the last five innings. Of course we only scored one, but we had a chance.”
The Patriots wasted no time in taking the lead they would maintain throughout the game.
Tyler Sharp led off the game and connected on a double down the left field foul on the second pitch of the game. With one out Sharp advanced to third on a single by Andrew Bates. He scored as Bates was caught in a run down after being picked off first base.
Pace sent nine batters to the plate in the second inning and scored four runs. A two-run double by Austin Allen was the big hit of the inning.
Bulldog starting pitcher Jordan Chamberlain got out of the inning, but his night was done as Hancock took the mound in the third.
Dylan Hart, who singled and scored in the second inning, touched Hancock for a long solo homer with one out in the third. Hart later walked and scored on Chase Beckstrom’s triple in the fifth.
Sharp did a good job for the Patriots on the mound working six innings.
The Bulldogs (7-8) did make some noise in the third inning when they scored their only run of the game.
Zach Degraaf doubled with one out and scored on a Hancock single with two outs.
Corey Armstrong, who had walked, moved to second on the play. Nate Gerard followed Hancock’s hit with a base hit of his own. Gillis decided to send Armstrong and he was thrown out at the plate to end the Crestview threat.
Degraaf led the Bulldogs with three hits. Hancock, Gerard and B.A. Larkins also had hits for Crestview.
We got thrown out there at the plate in I think the third or fourth.
“We’ve got a tough schedule,” Gillis said. “We designed it that way. And now you’ve just got to learn to compete every night.
“We still have a ways to go, but I thought we battled a little bit better tonight. And that’s what I’m proud of.”
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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Gillis: ‘We still have a ways to go’ (PHOTOS, VIDEO)