danielutts@yahoo.com
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The Copperheads dropped their first
game of the postseason on Friday, falling to the Columbus All-Americans, 3-2. In
the double elimination tournament, the Copperheads are now 2-1, after scoring
16 combined runs in the first two games.
Despite a solid start from Zach
Fairbanks, the Copperheads’ lefty from Ohio Valley College, Southern Ohio
couldn’t produce enough runs to overcome the All-Americans, who are now
undefeated in the tournament, held on their home turf in Columbus.
Striking first as usual, the
Copperheads went up 1-0 in the bottom of the second inning when Anthony Gallas displayed some power, ripping a standup double to
right-centerfield, scoring Brad Winter who had singled earlier in the inning.
Quick to respond, the All-Americans
came back in the top of the third with a leadoff double off of the bat of Justin
Rodgers, a left fielder from
In the top of the fourth, the
All-Americans got two more runs across, after OU Bobcat Hayden Johnston reached
on an error, followed by an Eric Diedrich single to
right. Chris Klimko then approached the plate, shooting
a standup double into right-centerfield, bringing both runs in to score and
give
The Copperheads struck again in the
fifth, loading the bases and forcing
The All-Americans gathered a total
of nine hits off of the Copperheads pitching staff, which consisted of just
Fairbanks and Geoff Campbell, who made the transition from second base to the
pitcher’s mound in the eighth inning.
With the
loss, the Copperheads now move into the bottom bracket of the tournament,
playing either
The
Copperheads must win the