Through the first four games of the season, the Windham Bombers’ baseball team has been an offensive force. That was not the case on Friday, when the Bombers fell into a deep hole and could not slug their away out of it, losing 12-3 against Northeastern Athletic Conference rival Pymatuning Valley in a crossover game at Windham Community Park.
“It is one of those games where the weather is obviously not ideal, but it is not ideal for either team and it is just a matter of who is going to deal with that adversity. We did not handle it well,” noted Coach Jake Eye. “We did not hit well. I think we only had four hits and we didn’t play very solid defense.”
In Windham’s (4-1, 4-0) first four games of the season, it has outslugged the opposition by a 39-8 margin. On Friday, the Bombers quickly fell into trouble in the first inning.
A series of miscues on the mound and in the field set the Bombers back, as Pymatuning upped their lead to 3-0. Ten stranded runners handicapped the offense until some light appeared at the end of the tunnel in the sixth inning but the Lakers were still leading 8-3. Hits by Dylan McCune, Alex Eye and Michael Boylard closed the gap somewhat but to no avail.
Despite Windham’s resurgence in the sixth inning, it was too little too late, as the Lakers scored four runs in the top of the seventh to assume control and hand the Bombers their first loss of the season. Windham finished the game by recording only four hits.
“We did not look like we normally do at the plate, I felt our approach was not what it was in previous games,” Coach Eye acknowledged. “I wouldn’t say that we did not see the ball well, but I felt that our approach was not good for that instance. The pitcher had walked one of our batters on four straight pitches and the next batter comes up swings at the first pitch and pops it up. Those things can’t happen.”
Despite suffering their first loss, Coach Eye believes that the team would not let this game define the rest of their season.
“Hitting the ball the way we have hit and, obviously, on the mound throwing strikes and competing on the mound the way we have says a lot about the future of our program,” he added.
After a road game against NAC Stars Division foe Maplewood on Wednesday and a home game against league rival Grand Valley on Thursday, Windham will return to the diamond and host conference rival St. John in a crossover game on April 21 at 4:30 p.m.
