Indians cruise past Millers in American Legion action

OPELOUSAS – After a week long layoff, the Crowley Millers finally got back on the field Tuesday in an American Legion contest against the Opelousas Indians.
Unfortunately for the locals, the rust from not playing a game since June 5 was evident.
The Millers struggled both on the mound and at the plate in an 11-1 loss in a game that was halted after the sixth inning due to the mercy rule.
“We didn’t swing the bats particularly well tonight, but in this game, that’s going to happen sometimes,” said Millers’ coach Cord McCall, whose team logged just two hits on the night. “This is one of the toughest games on the planet to play because it takes so much skill. Sometimes you are not going to hit well and we didn’t tonight.”
Indians’ hurler Spencer Noel had a lot to do with the Millers’ misfortunes at the plate.
The lanky southpaw only struck out four batters but he coaxed the Millers into six flyouts and six groundouts while walking just two.
After giving up one run in the first inning, Noel sat the Millers down in order over the next four innings.
“Their pitcher did a really good job of keeping us off balance all night and we just didn’t make any adjustments at the plate,” said McCall. “He (Noel) did a good job of moving in and out with his pitches and he was able to do some good things.”
On the flip side, the Millers struggled on the mound and gave up nine free passes - five walks and four hit batters.
“We gave them (Indians) a lot of opportunities by walking people and hitting batters,” said McCall. “You just can’t play defense behind that and it really put us in a few bad spots. We just can’t give up free bases if we want to be successful.”
The Millers scored their only run of the game in the top of the first inning when Luke Ancelet drew a leadoff walk and eventually scored on a broken bat single by Jacob Mooney.
Royce Zaunbrecher got the start on the mound for the Millers and worked out of a jam in the first inning following a one-out hit and back-to-back walks. The Notre Dame product regrouped and struck out the next two batters to get out of the inning unscathed.
Zaunbrecher struck out two in a scoreless second inning before hitting the first two batters he faced in the third frame. That eventually led to the Indians’ first run of the game two batters later when T.J. Venable singled to left field to plate Drew Brown.
The Indians took the lead for good one inning later when Alex Hunt reached on an error and scored on a single to center by Brown.
Things then got worse for the Millers in the fifth inning when the Indians sent 11 batters to the plate.
Zaunbrecher got the first out of the inning before giving up an infield single. He then hit a batter and walked another before giving way to Bryce Brandon with the bases loaded.
Drake Helton greeted Brandon with a run-scoring double, but the Millers got the second out of the frame on the hit when Ancelet’s throw from center field was cut off by Michael Thevis and relayed to catcher Jeff Daigle to nail Matt Collins at the plate.
Hunt then drew a two-out walk and Kurt Mckissic reached base on a fielder’s choice. Brown followed with a two-run double and Cy Bryson added a three-run double to put the Indians up 9-1 before the Millers got out of the jam.
“We put ourselves in a hole to start the inning and then we just couldn’t stop the bleeding,” said McCall of the fifth inning.
Chris Arroyo drew a one-out walk in the sixth inning and Helton followed with a single before McKissick’s two-run single down the right field line ended the game by virtue of the mercy rule.
The Millers’ only other hit of the night was in the top of the sixth when Ancelet reached base on a leadoff bunt single. Mackay Mouton reached on a fielder’s choice, giving the locals runners at second and third before Noel recorded a strikeout to end the potential threat.
Zaunbrecher suffered the loss despite striking out seven in 4 1/3 innings. He gave up four runs, three earned, on five hits and six free passes (3 walks, 3 hit batters). Brandon surrendered seven runs on three hits, two walks and one strikeout.
Brown led the Indians’ offensively with two hits and three RBI while Venable and Helton each had two hits and one RBI. Bryson and McKissick each had one hit and three RBI while Hunt, Arroyo and Zachary Hebert each had one hit.
The Millers will be in action again this evening when they play host to the Opelousas Seminoles at 7 p.m.
The contest is a pivotal one for the Millers, who now sit tied atop the league standings with the Indians at 2-1 with three games remaining.
“This is a big game for us and I am confident our guys will come out ready to play,” said McCall. “That’s one of the great things about sports is that you always have a chance to redeem yourself and Thursday is our chance. I’m positive our guys will come out and play very well.”