LISBON FALLS — With rain coming down during Monday’s Mountain Valley Conference high school baseball game between Lisbon and Hall-Dale, Joe Philbrick didn’t want to waste much time standing at the plate as the water splashed off his helmet.
Twice, Philbrick swung at Hall-Dale starter Ryan Sinclair’s first pitch, delivering two key hits in the Greyhounds’ 10-2 victory.
The win gives Lisbon a 9-2 mark, with a doubleheader slated for Friday at Monmouth.
Against Sinclair, the Greyhounds managed just two hits, both by Philbrick, but scored five runs. Philbrick singled to left field in the second and later scored on a passed ball. In the third, his double to the right-center field gap plated Tucker Brannon.
“The first pitch is always the best pitch that you’ll see from the pitcher, and he just gave it to me where I like it, a little bit high,” said Philbrick, who was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. “This is really fun, and it great to win. We learned a lot last year. We have come together as a team and have become a family.”
“Joe is a very good first-ball hitter, and if you give him that, he is going to hit it,” Lisbon coach Randy Ridley said. “He has developed into a very good two-strike hitter as well, not trying to pull everything. He didn’t get many hits early, but as the season has gone on, he has gotten into a groove.”
Sinclair and his wet teammates spent a lot of time on the field in the second and third frames. The righty threw 53 pitches with five walks.
“They wanted to come off the field bad, and we got on them and got our runs scored,” Ridley said. “We just handled the adversity. We knew it was going to rain, and the weather was going to be nasty. You have to handle that adversity, and we did.”
Bourget cruising
Lisbon pitcher Kyle Bourget handled the precipitation well. He went the distance, throwing 98 pitches with nine strikeouts, four walks and just three hits allowed.
“Kyle did a great job,” Ridley said. “He still tends to aim, and it is tough not to in this kind of weather. But, he battled through it. He has been strong all year long.”
The Greyhounds gave their pitcher a 3-0 lead in the second. Brannon walked and Philbrick singled, with an error moving both runners into scoring position. A balk on Sinclair scored Brannon, and wild pitch on ball four to Brett Gravel plated Philbrick. A second Bulldogs error and an RBI ground ball by Noah Francis completed the Lisbon uprising.
Brannon, who was hit twice in the game and for the seventh time this season, scored on a Philbrick double in the third, and Philbrick slide into home after a wild pitch for a 5-0 Greyhounds lead after three.
Tyler Dubois relieved for Hall-Dale (5-6) in the fourth and was greeted by back-to-back singles by Ryley Austin and RJ Sargent. Brannon picked up a two-run single two batters later to up Lisbon’s lead to 7-0.
“Our offense is really good this year, and we have three really good freshmen that have come up big for us,” said Philbrick, who praised Austin, Tyler Halls and Francis.
“We all know hitting is contagious,” Ridley added. “We take a little bit of time to get hitting. The first part of our order struggles the first time through, and the lower part of the order watches what is being thrown. The second time around, we get better all up and down the lineup. We don’t know who is going to lead the way on any given day.”
Hall-Dale got to Bourget in the fifth. Alex McPherson singled and Dubois reached on an error. Bourget uncorked a wild pitch to score McPherson, and Dubois scored on a single to left field by Bob Cumler. Lisbon escaped further damage when Philbrick took a cut-off throw from left fielder Darren Ward and fired to Austin covering at third to retire Isiah Swan.
Lisbon kept the offense going in the bottom of the fifth. Halls tripled to the fence in right field and scored on an Austin (2-for-4, one run scored, RBI) single. After Sargent (2-for-4, one run) singled, Bourget reached out and slapped a Dubois offering to right field. A throwing error allowed Austin to scored for a 9-2 Greyhounds edge.
The Greyhounds tacked on a run in the sixth, with Francis picking up his second RBI on a ground out, scoring Ward, who had singled.
Dubois pitched three innings for Hall-Dale, permitting eight hits and one walk.
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