HESPERIA – Shelby came close to claiming an overall victory Saturday, May 3 at Hesperia’s Annual Ken Smith Wooden Bat Tournament, defeating Hesperia but falling to Fremont in the championship game.
Shelby started its day with a 4-0 shutout win over the homesteading Panthers of Hesperia. The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first before riding a big third inning keyed them to victory.
After Eli Kelley walked to start the bottom of the third, DayDay Garcia and Cam Smith followed up with back-to-back doubles to score a pair of runs. Chase Simon and Garrin Waller then earned walks to load the bases, while Neil Gowell brought the score to 4-0 with a walk of his own that forced a run home.
The remainder of the game featured an offensive stalemate that saw both teams struggle to get on the board. After pitching two innings to start the game, Skyler Stalbaum was awarded the loss for Hesperia with two earned runs on one hit and two strikeouts. Noah Walker and Ethan O’Neil each threw two innings in relief, combining for one earned run on two hits and six strikeouts.
Simon pitched a complete game for Shelby, earning the win with just three hits surrendered and six batters sat down on strikeouts.
The Tigers advanced to the championship game where they played Fremont, who had dispatched Hesperia 7-4 previously. The Packers posted that exact same score over Shelby, defeating the Tigers 7-4 in extra innings.
Fremont got on top early, notching solo runs in the top of the first and second innings. That 2-0 advantage stood until the bottom of the fourth, when Shelby managed to cut in on a sacrifice fly from Waller.
The Packers pushed the advantage to 3-1 in the top of the fifth, but were met by a pair of Tiger runs to knot up the score in the bottom of the fifth. Smith was the catalyst in that frame, scoring Trevor Weiss and Garcia on a hard ground ball to center field.
Each team scored runs in the seventh and final inning of regulation, bringing the score to 4-4.
With extra innings needed, each team placed a runner at second base. Neither could score in the eighth inning, bringing a ninth inning into play.
Fremont shut the door on Shelby in the top of the ninth, scoring three runs and keeping the Tigers bats silent to end the game.
Simon pitched nearly all of regulation, going six and two-thirds innings while allowing three earned runs on four hits with eight strikeouts. Kelley was awarded the loss after throwing two innings of overtime and allowing two earned runs on three hits with five strikeouts.
Leaders at the plate for Shelby were Smith who went 3-for-6 overall, along with Garcia and Simon who went 2-for-7 on the day. Smith also led the team in runs batted in with three.
