Fannett-Metal moved to (3-0) on the season with a 4-3 non league victory over James Buchanan.
The Tigers struck first in the opening inning as Luke Coffman led off the game with a single, stole second and scored on a RBI single by Wyatt Appleby. The Rockets evened the game in the 4th when Drew Crouse knocked in Cameron Bailey with a single. F-M starter Coffman was lifted in the 6th after issuing a lead off walk. The Tigers brought in freshman Landon Arnold. After walking the first batter he faced and striking out the next, Crouse connected on a deep drive to left field to score two runs and give the Rockets a 3-1 lead. Arnold retired the next two batters to limit the damage.
This set up a 7th inning comeback by the Tigers. Freshman Jake Coffman led off with a hard single past the second baseman. His brother Luke was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. Landon Arnold laid down a perfect bunt to load the bases for the Tigers. Reliever Kaden Saunders got one out before issuing a RBI walk to Rylin Sharar to cut the lead to 3-2. Colton Friese hit into a fielders choice to tie the game. The Tigers Wade Appleby and Drew Goshorn received back to back walks to give the Tigers the 4-3 lead.
In the bottom of the 7th, Arnold settled in and struck out the first two batters before getting a groundout to end the game. “Landon was a little nervous when he came in but he started attacking hitters and finished strong. We left a lot of runners in scoring position tonight but we were able to score when we needed to in the 7th”, Fannett-Metal Coach Paul Coffman said.
Luke Coffman started and pitched 5+ innings. He gave up 2 runs on 6 hits, and had 3 K’s and 1 BB. “ Luke kept them off balance today and made some big pitches at key moments in the game. He threw a lot of strikes today”, Coffman said. Landon Arnold pitched the final two innings to get the win. He gave up 1 run on 2 hits, and he had 3 K’s and 1 BB.
James Buchanan was led offensively by Freshman Hayden Sanchez with 3 hits and freshman Drew Crouse with 2 hits and 3RBI’s. James Bell and Cameron Bailey both had doubles. The Rockets also turned two beautiful double plays in the game. “They have a very nice young team”, Coffman said.
The Tigers return to action on Tuesday for a key ICC matchup vs visiting Southern Fulton.