Connor Gillispie allowed just three hits through six innings and the Miller School baseball team made Carrson Atkins’ second-inning RBI double stand up in a rain-shortened 1-0 victory over Covenant on Thursday afternoon.
Gillispie, who didn’t walk a batter on the day, outdueled Covenant lefty Matt Shobe, whose only blemish came in the second inning when he allowed consecutive one-out doubles — the only extra-base hits of the game — first by Gillispie himself, then by Atkins, to give the Mavericks (9-5) the only run of the game. Shobe settled down after that, not allowing another baserunner until the fifth, but the Eagles’ bats just never got going.
“It doesn’t surprise me that this was a one-run game,” Miller manager Billy Wagner said. “It really stinks that we only played six innings, because I saw some great baseball from both teams.”
Covenant didn’t get a runner past second base all game. The Eagles’ (18-7) best opportunity to even the game came in the third inning when Luke Burton reached on a fielders’ choice and subsequently advanced to second base on a passed ball, but Gillispie got Sam LePage on a pop-up to first base to end the threat.
“It didn’t matter who the batter was, I was just doing the best I could,” Gillispie said. “We expect to come in and win. We expect to put more runs on the board, but it didn’t work out that way, so the defense and I had to step up.”
Miller, likewise, had a chance to put more runs on the board in the fifth, loading the bases with one out on the heels of a couple of Covenant errors. Atkins reached on an error, then advanced to third when Shobe’s pickoff attempt went wild. Following a pair of walks, the Mavericks seemed primed to add to their lead, but Shobe forced an infield pop-up and first baseman Jake Haney stepped on the bag after a harmless grounder to keep it a one-run game.
Shobe exited in the sixth after fanning Tanner Morris for the first out of the frame to a well-deserved round of applause from the home crowd.
“You’ve gotta credit Shobe — I thought he did a tremendous job,” Wagner said. “With the weather, I had to get our guys into the mindset of ‘We’re going to play, we’re going to play, we’re going to play.’ We took batting practice at our place and I was happy that our guys were able to remain focused when the game started.”
Haney took over on the hill for Covenant and retired the Mavericks with the help of a bang-bang play at the plate, but Covenant failed to get a baserunner and was retired in the sixth before the rains came with one inning to play. Due to the lack of lights at the field, the game was called immediately.
Miller returns to action tomorrow when it hosts Carlisle at 4:30 p.m. Covenant entertains Fishburne Military Academy, also tomorrow at 4:30.
