North Springs' Sloppy Defense Pivotal in Loss Versus Druid Hills

It’s never a good thing to give a team extra outs, but that’s exactly what North Springs did in its game versus Druid Hills, recording eight errors in an 11-10 loss at home in a Region 5A-AAA tilt, Friday.

“We made too many errors. When you give teams four or five outs an inning, you’re going to get beat,” said North Springs head coach Stephen Bengston. “But you know, the sun’s going to come up tomorrow and it’s a long season. We’ve still got a lot of baseball to play and we’ve got to get back to work on the defense.”

Friday’s game was a back-and-forth affair, but hardly a pitcher’s duel. Both teams registered 15 hits on the evening and the game hung in the balance until the final out of the seventh inning.

The Red Devils built an early lead with some clutch two-out hitting in the top of the third from catcher Brady Ksionzyk, who smacked an RBI double to left center to give the visitors a 4-3 advantage. Later, a balk by North Springs pitcher Hunter Bryan made the score 5-3.

However, Bryan escaped the inning without allowing further damage. The Spartans battled back in the bottom of the third, tallying five runs behind a double by Bryan that scored two runs. Ryan Morrow then belted a two-out line drive that brought home two more North Springs runs.

The teams traded body blows in the fourth and fifth innings and with his squad leading 10-8, Spartan pitcher Spencer Middleton took the mound in the top of the sixth for the home team.

Middleton ran into trouble early when Druid Hills pitcher Kyle Ludewick crushed a lead-off double to the left field corner off of his counterpart.

Next up for the Red Devils was Ksionzyk, who tapped a soft grounder down the first baseline that was scooped up by Middleton. However, the Spartan pitcher’s throw to first sailed wide and into the backstop, allowing a Red Devil run to score and Ksionzyk to reach base safely.

Aided by two more North Springs errors and a double to left field by senior Odir Martinez, the Red Devils recaptured an 11-10 lead entering the bottom of the sixth.

The Red Devils replaced Ludewick with senior James Ridgway to start the sixth, but the Druid Hills hurler had his woes and the Spartans appeared poised to reclaim the lead.

Ridgway conceded a leadoff single to the Spartans’ Bryan before walking the next two batters to load the bases with no outs.

However, the senior fought back, forcing the next North Springs batter to ground to the pitcher’s mound. Ridgway scooped up the grounder and fired to Ksionzyk at home plate who applied the tag to the Spartan base runner to prevent the run from scoring.

Ridgway next got Court Granish to pop up before Morrow looked at a called third strike to end the inning, allowing Druid Hills to escape to the seventh inning unscathed.

After a scoreless top of the inning from the Red Devils, Ridgway returned to the mound to preserve the Druid Hills victory.

North Springs slugger Ramon Virbon nearly tied the game with his one out blast that bounced off of the bottom of the left field wall for a double. Next, Sammie Evans grounded out to short. Then with Virbon at third ready to race home with two outs, Bryan popped up to shortstop Deric Boone to give the Red Devils the win.

“We just competed our butts off all night,” said Druid Hills head coach Matt Gershon. “We were missing a couple of guys, a couple of our starters and we had guys step up so it’s a great win for us.”