Buckeyes beat Mineola, 4-2

Mirror Photo / M.L. Kirby JUSTIN FIELDEN throws to a Mineola batter as he picks up his 10th win of the year. Behind him, D.J. Stanley is in right field. Stanley picked up a save when he pitched relief in the seventh inning of Gilmer’s 4-2 win over the Yellowjackets.

MINEOLA — Justin Fielden picked up his tenth win of the year as Gilmer defeated Mineola 4-2 Tuesday (April 15).

Fielden improved his strike-out total to 66 with five more added against the ’Jackets. His ERA is 0.52. Fielden has no losses as the Buckeyes are 17-6, 7-1 in district play prior to their last home game Friday.

For head coach Joey Hector, it was a satisfying win, his first against Mineola on their home field since he came to Gilmer.

“Write it down that I was responsible for us losing the shut out,” Hector told The Mirror after the game. “I called the wrong pitch.”

Jared Crenshaw jumped on the pitch and smashed it out of the park for a 2-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. He leads the Mineola hitters with 25 RBIs.

The Buckeyes answered with a routine 6-3 out from Dustin Varnado to Garrett Adkins, their second of the inning, to end the game. D.J. Stanley got his fifth save of the year with the out.

Colton Bickerstaff pitched for the Yellowjackets and picked up his fourth loss (6-4, 3.36 ERA).

Gilmer won the match with runs scattered in the fourth, fifth, and seventh innings.

Kyle Bowden got the first run of the game after walking to open the fourth. Fielden hit into a double play, but not before Bowden crossed the plate for a 1-0 lead.

Jake Ashley picked up his score, 2-0, in the fifth inning when a Yellowjacket dropped Brennan Thompson’s fly to right.

Thompson went 1-for-3 with one run for the night. He has 31 runs batted in and 12 stolen bases for the year.

After Hunter Harrison and Thompson reached, Bowden laid down a perfect bunt. While the catcher stared down Harrison and prevented a score, Bowden reached safely to load the bases. Paul Chesnut’s grounder added two RBIs to his total as both Harrison and Thompson scored for a 4-0 lead.

“Harrison had a great game fielding Tuesday,” Hector added to his post game comments. “We had a good night on defense. I was proud of that.”

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