Brock Netter, Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
CHILLICOTHE — All Washington’s Will Miller needs is a lead.
Once you dig yourself a hole, with him on the mound, consider it game over. The southpaw has been a model of consistency for the Blue Lions (2-1, 1-0 FAC) for the last three years.
He turned in another gem on Monday.
He tossed five innings, allowing just one hit and one earned run while striking out 12 batters, aiding his team to a 3-1 victory over Chillicothe (1-4, 0-1 FAC) to open FAC play.
“We lost a lot of guys from last year, but getting a win here is pretty huge for our confidence,” Miller said. “It lets us know that we can still be competitive with the guys we have on the field. We didn’t hit very well in our season opener, and it’s been a while since we played, but we put the bat on the ball almost every at-bat and played with some confidence.”
CREDIT: Seth Fain/SOSA
In a conference with a ton of standout pitchers, Miller ranks among the best and he wasted no time setting the tone, striking out the side in the first inning.
Dialed in from that moment on, his team knew it had to give him just one run across the dish.
It took a little bit of time as Chillicothe’s Mason Brown was dealing on the other side, striking out four batters through three innings.
With both pitchers were cruising throughout the game, Chillicothe’s defense ran into a hiccup in the fourth.
The Cavaliers committed a fielding error to put the leadoff batter on base. Following back-to-back walks, Kylen Eskins grounded into a fielder’s choice to put the Blue Lions ahead 1-0.
Aden Osborne stepped up in the next at-bat and proceeded to lace an RBI single into center field, pushing the lead to 2-0.
That was all Miller needed and he went right back to work in the fifth, striking out another pair of batters to give him 12 for the game and keep the lead intact.
“I just tried to attack early, but switch up some pitches to see what they were looking for,” Miller said. “Once we got that lead, it took some pressure off of our shoulders and allowed us to just play ball the way we can.”
However, Chillicothe showed some fight in the bottom of the sixth. After a leadoff hit by pitch, Brown broke up Miller’s no-hit bid with a double to left field.
Later, a walk loaded the bases and chased Miller off the bump. Truitt McGlone followed with an RBI groundout to score a run and cut the lead to 2-1.
But Washington seized momentum right back. After Bryson Heath was hit by a pitch to open the seventh, Sam Lotz drove him in with an RBI double into deep centerfield, pushing the edge to 3-1.
“Sam is one of, if not, the best hitter that we have on the team, and he found the gap in a spot we needed the most,” Heath said. “He pieced the ball up and once I saw it hit the ground, I knew I was going home. It was such a clutch hit.”
From that point on, Heath trotted back onto the mound and, although Chillicothe managed to load the bases with two outs, he secured the win by getting a line out to close the night with a Blue Lion victory in hand.
“I know myself, and I’m not a big strikeout type of pitcher,” Heath said. “I just throw strikes and count on my defense to back me up, so it makes my job easier. This was a good game for us seeing another quality pitcher and a good arm. It only makes us better and I thought we did a great job tonight.”
Lotz finished 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI for the Blue Lions, while Osbourne was also 1-for-4 with an RBI.
For Chillicothe, Brown suffered the loss in a complete game effort, allowing three earned runs and striking out four. McGlone finished 0-for-3 with an RBI.
Both teams squared off again on Tuesday with Washington earning a 9-6 victory.
In that contest, the Blue Lions managed to pound out just six hits but took advantage of four Cavaliers errors.
Washington returns to action on Thursday at Zane Trace while Chillicothe travels to Unioto that same evening.
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