In a tightly played game, Hart came up a run short in a 5-4 loss at home today vs Canyon . Trailing 4-0 after 2 innings of play, the Indians staged a comeback which came up a run short in losing to Canyon for the 2nd time this year. Starting pitcher, Jeremy Whitcomb, went the distance , pitching a complete game for the 1st time this year. Whitcomb battled a tough Canyon lineup , pitching out of a number of jams and giving the Indians a number of opportunities to get back into the game. Offensively, the Indians once again recorded double digits in the hits column. Brian Klocko led the way getting 3 singles on the afternoon. Logan Foley, Mike Cieszko, and Adam Reyes each added 2 hits.

After both teams played to a scoreless first inning, Canyon was the first to get on the board in the top of the 2nd. The 2nd inning turned out to be the difference in the game, as Canyon had 3 hits and took advantage of 2 Hart errors to jump out to a 4-0 lead. The Indians put their first run on the board in the bottom of the 3rd inning. After loading the bases with no outs on three straight singles by Cieszko, Klocko , and Reyes , Hart seemed poised to make a major dent in Canyon's lead. Unfortunately, the Indians were only able to come up with 1 run, on a one out bases loaded walk to Jake Hovis. The inning came to an abrupt end when Canyon turned a 6-4-3 double play off the bat of Alex Pettee. After holding Canyon scoreless in the 4th, Mattie Hernandez lead off the inning with a sharp single to center field. After advancing to second on a fielders choice, Hernandez came around to score Hart's 2nd run of the game , when Mike Cieszko doubled to right center field . After pinch runner Ryan Kalinowski was inserted for Cieszko, Klocko drove a single to left field to score the Indians 2nd run of the inning and put the score at 4-3.

With the score still 4-3 heading into the 6th inning, Canyon was able to add to their lead by scoring the eventual winning run in their half of the inning. Down 5-3 going into the bottom of the 6th, Hart made their last effort to tie the score, getting one run on hits by Logan Foley, Klocko, and Adam Reyes. Unfortunately , the Indians came up short stranding 2 runners in scoring position to end the inning. Down 5-4 in the bottom of the 7th, Hart went down quietly to post their 5th loss of the Foothill league season.

Hart comes back on Friday with an away game vs Canyon at 3:15 pm.

Narrative courtesy of Del Hernandez.