Alwood's start lifts Maroons

FORSYTH - For a team that has been involved in slugfests all year round, it was nice to see the Clinton Maroons baseball team get a win with only five hits in their most important game of the season Tuesday. The Maroons received timely hits from Jordan Good and Ashton Tedrick to build a 6-1 lead over Maroa-Forsyth and withstood a late Trojan rally to preserve a 6-4 victory. 

David Alwood pitched five innings and was the winning pitcher. It had been his first start of the 2010 season. 

"David wanted a chance to start at some point this year, but I don't think he was expecting it to come on the first day of regionals," Clinton head coach John Hickman said. "But we had talked about it Friday and Saturday and everyone seemed on board with it. He had the freshest arm among all of our starters."

A few fielding errors forced the Maroons to use Aaron Ennis in relief. Ennis did a fine job pitching almost two innings and recording the save. 

Tedrick's two-run double in the top of the fifth put Clinton up by five, giving them a cushion they would need against a Trojan team that has proven they can come back. 

The Maroons also played well the following day in their 5-1 regional semifinal loss to Central Catholic Wednesday. Josh Merrick pitched well, but Clinton could not come up with the timely hits they did Tuesday night in Forsyth. 

Clinton will play again on Memorial Day, May 31 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Their opponent will be Hudsonville High School. 

Perfect no more: Heyworth stings Maroa

HEYWORTH - The sixteenth game of the season has not been kind to Phil Applebee and the Maroa-Forsyth Lady Trojans softball team the past two seasons. After losing to Williamsville in Game 16 last year, the team repeated history in 2010. The Lady Trojans (15-1) lost their first game of the season, dropping a 5-3 decision to the Heyworth Hornets Tuesday afternoon. 

Maroa-Forsyth kicked off the scoring in the top of the first when Kayti Lundin scored on a Kim Lamar triple. Heyworth answered with one in the first and used three timely hits in the second to take a 4-1 advantage.

Despite trailing by three, Lady Trojan fans that made the trip up Route 51 were just waiting for the bats to click. The team had recently put up a pair of 10+ run games and had come back from three three-run deficits already this season. 

It looked like the comeback was underway when Taylor Coit doubled, stole third and scored on a Rachel Hastings flyout in the top of the third. But two stranded runners in the fourth and fifth innings prevented such a comeback from mounting itself. 

Rachel England scored the Lady Trojans' final run in the top of the sixth on a Breanna Livingood RBI double. 

Coit took the loss on the mound, pitching for Kayti Lundin, who took a day off from the field. 

Maroa-Forsyth returns to Okaw Conference play with a home game against Monticello today. 

Photo: Taylor Coit scores Maroa's second run Tuesday in a 5-3 loss to the Heyworth Hornets.