With solid pitching and hitting Titusville legion is cooking

The crack of a wooden bat hitting a hurled leather baseball in the warm summer breeze is like no other. Even when that sound is more like "clnnnaapthhh."

That was the sound of Hunter Thomas's bat in the second inning of Monday's Titusville American Legion game against Corry with a runner in scoring position. The sound was unquestionable, Thomas broke his bat, but what it did to the action of the ball was enough for the shortstop to bobble it allowing Thomas, who carried his bat all the way to first, to reach base and for Cameron Mong to score.

It was the first run of the game, but not the last. It was the last time the bat would make an appearance, but what a way to go out.

Last week coach Buck Obert said, when the team was 1-2, that he needed to do a better job preparing his team if they were going to win.

​ It seems he did just that as his legion team has now recorded two straight wins.

They beat Fort LeBoeuf 5-3 over a week ago and their wooden bats were on fire Monday when they downed Corry 9-1. Against LeBoeuf, they reached base over a dozen times drawing five walks and being beaned a couple of times. Six hits then brought in five runs.

Against Corry, Austin Shoup pitched lights out through most of the first three and a third innings only giving up one run on a wild pitch. Caden Blakeslee and Cameron Mong finished off the rest in convincing fashion only giving up one hit in the last three innings.
Obert said the boys pitched really well Monday night.

The offense was a little slow getting started despite Kasen Neely’s knocking the fourth pitch he saw for a double. He ended ending up stranded on third. 
In the second, Mong walked and eventually scored on Thomas' broken bat muff by the Corry shortstop.

In the third, Neeley reached on another bobbled ball by the shortstop. He was forced out at second on a Shoup grounder but Corry failed to turn the double play. Shoup ended up at third after a steal and advancing on a Jacob Teeter infield grounder. Mason Titus singled to score Shoup. Titus scored a couple batters later when Mong drove him in. Titusville was warmed up now.

In the fourth, Neeley doubled with two outs and scored on an error from a Teeter grounder to short. Corry's shortstop was having a bad day and Titusville seemed to capitalize on that fact.

​Titusville scored again in the fifth when Hank Lockhart crossed home plate on a Brett Schmidt single. 

Titusville erupted for four insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. They weren’t needed as Mong came in and struck out two and gave up a grounder to second that was easily converted to an out.

Obert is looking for ways his team can improve and things to go over in practice said. “We hit the ball good at the end of the game, but we need to get better starts if we want to keep winning."