South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

Third time no charm for Johnny Mac Thunder against Jefferson County Blazers

The Johnny Mac Baseball Club discovered Sunday night that the third time isn’t necessarily a charm.

The Johnny Mac Thunder team dropped its third game of the season to the Jefferson County Blazers in a 23-8 loss that lasted seven innings. Johnny Mac opened the 2008 season with a 5-4 loss to the Blazers and also dropped a 7-4 decision to the Blazers on June 5.

“The Blazers are a pretty talented team and they just have our number,” Johnny Mac head coach Chris Ackman said. “They just hit the ball all over the park, and this was just not a very good game for us that got ugly.”

The Blazers jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one inning with Johnny Mac tying the game at 2-2 after the second inning. But an eight-run outburst by Jefferson County in the third resulted in a 10-2 lead going into the fourth inning. The Thunder bounced back in the fourth with a five-run outburst, but it was not enough to keep up with the Blazers’ offensive onslaught.

“They jumped out on us and we came back in the second inning,” Ackman said. “But after the second inning, we just fell apart.”

Johnny Mac starting pitcher Ethan Stenger took the loss, giving up seven runs on six hits in 21⁄3 innings. He gave up two walks and struck out two as his overall record dropped to 4-2.

“Both teams were given the impression that the game was going to be at 5 p.m., but the umpires thought that it was at 5:45 p.m., so Ethan had to warm up twice for the game,” Ackman said. “I thought that he had some good stuff, but he left a few pitches up and you just can’t do that against a team like the Blazers.”

Johnny Mac’s Dave Williams had the strongest day at the plate with a two-hit performance that yielded three RBI. He is batting .483 with 15 RBI.

“Dave’s played really well the last week and a half,” Ackman said. “He’s been batting well in the fourth, fifth and sixth slots and has been really consistent as of late.”

Johnny Mac is back in action today — July 3 — when it competes in the Beast of the East Tournament in Wheeling, W. Va., which features 42 teams from the East Coast and gives Johnny Mac the chance to play at least six games in pool play.

“I think that this is a good chance to see some different types of competition, and it gives the kids the chance to get some exposure to East-Coast college and junior-college coaches,” Ackman said. “This could turn out to be an awesome experience for some of our kids.”

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