XENIA, Ohio – With strong pitching, great defense and timely hitting, the Xenia Scouts ended a three-game losing streak with a 6-4 decision over the Hamilton Joes on Wednesday night at Grady’s Field.
Tyler Smith went seven innings on the mound giving up three runs on eight hits with a walk and a strikeout to record his fourth win of the season. Smith (4-1) is now tied with John LaCorte (2009) for the Scouts single-season wins record.
Tommy Kister hurled the final two innings giving up one run on two hits with two strikeouts for his seventh save of the season.
Hamilton (22-17) got on the board with a run in the first before Xenia (21-17) got RBI hits by Andrew Geenen and Matt Thompson to give the Scouts a 2-1 lead after one inning of play.
The Joes would quickly tie the game at 2-2 with a run in the top of the second, but neither team would score again until the fifth inning when Hamilton took its final lead of the night on a double steal.
Xenia answered back in the sixth inning when Taylor Kaprive blasted a solo home run over the left-field fence to knot it up at 3-3. The home run now gives Kaprive three on the summer and brings him to within one of the single-season club record that is currently held by Case Rigby (2008) and Robby Kuzdale
The Scouts would take the lead for good in the seventh on a controversial call when Blake Frazier slid just past the tag of Josh Jeffery. The play started with Frazier on third and Eddie Young grounding the ball back up the middle.
The short stop’s throw appeared to beat Frazier to the plate, but the umpire emphatically signaled safe, giving the Scouts a 4-3 lead.
The inning continued and saw the Scouts take the lead for good when Matt Calhoun sent a grounder back to the pitcher, but Collin Shaw’s attempt to get the runner out at second sailed into the outfield, allowing Young to score for a 5-3 lead.
Hamilton would inch closer in the eighth with back-to-back two-out doubles, but Trey Wimmer’s sacrifice fly off Chad Martin scored Kaprive for an insurance run for the Scouts. Kaprive led off the bottom of the eighth with a double down the right-field line.
The Joes final hope in the ninth was nullified when Kister recorded a 1-2-3 inning to seal the victory for the Scouts.
Xenia collected nine hits on the evening with Kaprive being the offensive star of the night. Kaprive went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, two runs scored and an RBI.
Shaw (0-1) would be credited with the loss in his only inning of work for the Joes, who got a brilliant pitching performance from starter Patrick Curtain. Curtain gave up just three runs on seven hits while walking three and striking out seven in his six innings of work.
The Scouts, who have been mediocre at best with the glove, was sound defensively and did not commit an error in a game for the first time since doing so against the Grand Lake Mariners on July 16.
Xenia now jumps back into a tie for third place with the Cincinnati Steam in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League’s South Division after the Steam were trounced Wednesday by the Lexington Hustlers, 13-7.
The Scouts will return to take on Thursday night when they host the Lexington Hustlers for 7 p.m. first pitch at Grady’s Field.
(Photo courtesy of Steve Frazier.)
