The A’s opened their Spring campaign with four quick runs off of the Reds starter. Will and Richard got key hits and four runs scored before all the fans were in their seats. Matthew was perfect on the mound with two scoreless innings. He was helped with Pierce’s defense in the 1st with a caught popup at 3rd and a nice job on a grounder at 1st base in the 2nd inning. The A’s put together a run in the 2nd when Donny scored so after two it was A’s 5, Reds 0.
Drew came on in the 3rd and shut down the Reds. The A’s despite a couple of hits did not score in the 3rd. However, the lead was padded with 2 more in the 4th with a big triple by Richard to deep center. After 3 and a half it was 7-0 and the A’s were rolling.
The Reds battled back in the 4th on four runs on a few walks. Drew had two strikeouts in the inning, but the Reds were quite lucky and scored 4 cutting the lead to 7-4.
The A’s retaliated swiftly in the fifth with a single by Daniel, a long double by Alyssa and a single by Will. Four runs were in and the A’s had a much more comfortable 11-4 lead.
Alyssa came on in the fifth and shut down the Reds although they scored a lame final run. The game ended as Alyssa blasted a strikeout past the batter to give the A’s an 11-5 win in their first outing.
Coach Goldstein said “I liked what I saw out there. We were swinging the bat. Certainly there is plenty to improve but we are on the right track.” Coach Grossman is always extremely busy after a game and was only available for a very brief comment said “I really enjoyed today’s game. Our hitting was fantastic” As he glanced at the scoresheet he said “TEN HITS — you have GOT TO BE KIDDING — what a start! Our pitchers looked good on the mound. We need to work on actually sitting on the bench during the game and cheering for the team, but that will come with time. “
