'Jacks top Panthers 4-1 in District 9-3A action

By CORWIN MURRAY
BERWICK — Patterson ace Sirbatian Charles kept Berwick off the scoreboard until the seventh inning to lead the Lumberjacks to a 4-1 District 9-3A win against the Panthers Wednesday.
Charles tossed 6.1 innings and surrendered one earned run on five hits with two walks, one hit batter and fanned four.
“Chubb has pitched well all season,” Patterson head coach Ryan Jensen said. “It’s a shame his record doesn’t show it. I think he has three losses, but every time he’s on the mound, that’s pretty much what we get. He throws strikes and he gives us a chance to win. It’s just a matter of us making solid defensive plays behind him. He’s had some bad luck when we’ve had some bad innings, but his ERA is under two. He just goes out there and competes.”
Patterson (12-11, 3-2) grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Bryce Beaubouef blasted a two-run single off Berwick starter Daniel Gray.
In the third inning, Berwick (17-9, 4-1) went to Andrew Askew in relief after the Lumberjacks added another run to extend the lead to 3-0.
Askew promptly struck out two and induced a ground ball to get out of the inning.
“Our starter didn’t have his best stuff today, and he struggled but the Askew kid we brought in did a wonderful job,” Berwick head coach Mike Thomas said.
Gray suffered the loss. In 2.1 innings, he surrendered three earned runs on three hits with three walks, two hit batters and one strikeout.
In 4.2 innings of relief, Askew surrendered a run on two hits with five strikeouts.
Like Askew, Charles kept the Panthers’ bats in check, too.
“We just didn’t hit the ball today,” Thomas said. “Chubb did a great job … but we have to do a better job of hitting the baseball. We have four games left, and if we don’t hit any better, it’s going to be interesting.”
In the fifth, Brennan Gouaux singled, stole second base and took third on a throwing error.
Joel Singleton laid down a squeeze bunt in front the plate on the first base side. Gouaux scored but Singleton and Berwick’s catcher got tangled up.
Singleton reached on a throwing error on the play before racing to second base.
Thomas argued the play to the umpires who eventually called Gouaux out and returned Singleton to first base.
Jensen tore into the umps because the second base umpire made the call. Jensen was tossed from the game.
“The home plate umpire, who was standing right there, didn’t see our guy (the runner from third base) hit the ball, but the second base umpire, who was a 100 feet away, says he saw our runner touch ball,” Jensen said. “Now, obviously I disagreed with that because if anybody hit the ball, it was their catcher, but if it wasn’t him, it was our batter. Our runner couldn’t get there that fast, but it’s a judgment call.”
While Jensen said it would be easy to “second-guess” the call, it’s something that is made in a “split second.”
“I shouldn’t have argued as much as I did, but we had a couple calls go against us Tuesday against E.D. White, and again Thursday against E.D. White, there was another controversial call, so I felt I owed it to my guys to fight for the right call,” Jensen said.
Patterson has lost seven one-run games this season, so Jensen said it was worth it to fight for the extra run.
Patterson got a single from Jake Lagrange, but Askew got out of the inning again without surrendering a run.
The Jacks added a run in the top of the sixth inning to extend the lead to 4-0.
Charles and Askew continued to battle into the seventh when Charles showed a little crack in his amour. He gave up a walk to Bradley Gray and a double to D.J. Robicheaux.
Patterson cut down a runner at home before Cameron Wiley singled to score a run.
Patterson went to closer Jake Lagrange, who got two pop outs to end the game.
The Lumberjacks had six hits, led by Beaubouef’s 2-for-4 performance with two RBIs, a run and a stolen base.
Berwick had five hits, led by Robicheaux’s 1-for-3 performance with a double and an RBI, while Wiley was 1-for-3 with an RBI.
The two teams will play again today at 6 p.m. in a contest that while originally scheduled for Patterson, will be played in Berwick.