Charleston suffers setback against East Carter

CHARLESTON, Mo. — East Carter pitcher Chase Carter pitched five strong innings in a win over Charleston at Hillhouse Park on Monday, March 27.

Carter earned the win for the Redbirds (3-3) after throwing the first innings, allowing no runs on three hits with 11 strikeouts in the 8-1 win over Bluejays (1-1).

“I’m pleased with how we played today,” said East Carter coach Ethan Boyer. “We haven’t played well defensively in the few games we have had so far, and today we only had one error. If we can do that then I’m always going to be happy. They’re improving and that’s what I’m looking for.

Charleston's Lane Morrow (8) throws a pitch during an 8-1 loss to East Carter at Hillhouse Park on Monday, March 27. (Dennis Marshall/Standard-Democrat)

“[Carter] came out, threw strikes, and did exactly what we needed to win,” he continued. “He a good pitcher and he tough to beat when he’s throwing like that.”

Benjamin Stahl led the game off with a triple for East Carter, and Jacob Saffle made it 2-0 later in the inning with a fly ball single to right field that scored Stahl and Cason Price.

“[Stahl] set the table early by leading the game off with a triple,” Boyer said. “He can run the bases well. We kind of go as he goes. I was proud of the way he hit the ball and got us started.”

Charleston's Bennett Logan (4) runs for home during an 8-1 loss to East Carter at Hillhouse Park on Monday, March 27. (Dennis Marshall/Standard-Democrat)

The Redbirds extended the lead to 3-0 later in the first inning after Saffle scored on a ground out.

The Bluejays were able to get runners on in the bottom of the inning after a double by Lane Morrow and a single by Chase Worthy, but couldn’t come away with any runs.

The Bluejays had runners on again in the bottom of the second inning, but a single by Bennett Logan and Morrow was walked, and two straight strikeouts by Carter ended the inning.

East Carter's Benjamin Stahl throws a pitch during an 8-1 win over Charleston on Monday, March 27 at Hillhouse Park. (Dennis Marshall/Standard-Democrat)

Austin Hosentfeld scored on an error in the top of the fourth inning to increase the lead to 4-0.

The Redbirds put the game completely out of reach in the top of the seventh inning. Stahl and Price were each walked to start the inning. Stahl scored on an error, while Price scored on a single by Carter.

East Carter's final two runs came on a single by Hosentfeld that scored Carter and Brenden Reynolds.

“We’ve had some games where we struck out a lot,” Boyer said. “Today, they were good about putting the ball in play, putting pressure on the defense, running the bases, and making things happen.”

Charleston scored its lone run in the bottom of the inning when Logan scored after a hit by Morrow.

“We have to understand how close we are to competing,” said Charleston coach Michael Minner. “That game ends up 8-1, but we had opportunities and if we just put the ball in a play a couple of times it could have been a completely different outcome.

“We are close but just don’t realize,” he continued. “It’s the mental side and we struggled with the baseball things today. When you don’t do those things well you’re not going to win.”

Logan took the loss after starting the game and pitching the first 3.2 innings. He allowed three earned runs on four hits with six strikeouts and three walked batters.

Morrow pitched the final 3.1 innings, surrendering two earned runs on four hits with two strikeouts and two walks.

“We’re just going to keep harping at guys and telling them that we have a shot,” Minner said. “I like our group. We just have to keep working and do some things better. We’re going to continue to improve.”

Stahl pitched the final two innings for East Carter, allowing no earned runs on one hit with four strikeouts.

East Carter travels to Bernie on Tuesday, March 28, and will compete in the Laker Wood Bat Tournament, beginning Friday, March 31 in Camdenton, Missouri.

Charleston travels to New Madrid County Central (1-0) on Tuesday, March 28, and hosts Leopold (1-1) on Friday, March 31.

__EAST CARTER 8, CHARLESTON 1__

East Prairie 300 100 4 — 8 8 1

Charleston 000 000 1 — 1 4 2

W—Chase Carter. L—Bennett Logan. 2B—Charleston: Logan, Chase Worthy. 3B—East Carter: Stahl.