Arts & Sciences came up with a handful of firsts Wednesday.
The Patriots posted the first win in the program’s history over Hixson, 5-4, and also got their first win of the season while giving rookie head coach Jon Koch his first victory.
“I’m all grins,” Koch said. “That’s the way I know we can play.”
Also on the firsts list were pitcher Collin Thul’s victory, reliever Nick Merrill’s save and Kyle West’s home run.
It was West who seemed to put a charge in his team with a first-pitch home run over the left-center field fence. The Patriots scored another when Michael Jones reached on an error and advanced to second base and moved to third on a balk before Nick Atkins’ single.
“It helped getting on top early. We have done it before but we didn’t stay there,” Koch said. “This time we didn’t shoot ourselves in the foot and we stayed on top.”
The Patriots (1-8) had but four hits in the six-inning game but took full advantage of four Hixson errors and some free passes.
Matthew Smelcer led off the second with a single, the last of the Patriots’ hits, and J.D. Derrick took first after being hit by a pitch. Jeff Bowens reached on an error that scored Smelcer and Derrick came around on a botched fielders-choice before E.J. Crutcher picked up an RBI with a bases-loaded walk. The inning might have gone on if not for a nifty double play initiated by Wildcats’ third baseman Brad Peters.
The early outburst was more than Hixson could handle. The Wildcats, after giving up the five runs in the first two innings, shut down CSAS the rest of the way behind reliever Steve Cochran, who allowed no hits in four innings. There was plenty of reason, though, for Hixson coach Ted Mulder to schedule a session in the batting cage. The Wildcats had just four hits. The RBIs came from Zach McCarter, who had two of the team’s hits, an RBI double from No. 9 hitter Tyler Neely. The only other hit, a double by Gauge Long, preceded Neely’s stroke.
“We finally had some intensity toward the end of the game,” Mulder said. “I guess you could say we weren’t prepared offensively. We tend to press and we’re going to have to learn to relax and play within our means.”
What he is looking for is successful sacrifices, hit-and-run situations and execution.
“We have do the right things defensively, the little things properly and we have to scrap,” he said. “We are not a swing-for-the-fences team. We want to put the runners in motion but we have to get them on base first.”
The Wildcats, who will help host the Central Invitational today through Saturday, fell to 4-5.