Normally, giving up 12 walks in a game leaves a team on the wrong side of the scoreboard. Somehow, the Henderson Flash found a way to survive giving up a dozen walks, two hit batters, and three errors and picked up a 7-4 win over the Madisonville Miners Thursday night at Elmer Kelley Stadium.
Even with the struggles to find the strike zone, Henderson held the Miners without a hit until the bottom of the fifth inning. The Miners had their chances in this one but could not come up with a timely hit early in the game.
Henderson starter Eli Gregory walked three straight batters with two outs in the bottom of the second to load the bases. A strikeout ended the inning and the threat without a run for Madisonville.
A hit batter and two walks with two outs by Henderson’s second pitcher of the night, Jacob Barrett, loaded the bases again in the bottom of the fourth. Once again, Henderson was able to get the third out without the Miners pushing a run across.
Meanwhile, the Flash hung five runs on the board in the second inning to take a 5-0 lead. Drew Isenberg had the big hit in the inning with a two-run double.
Henderson extended the lead with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth to make it 7-0.
The pitching struggles finally caught up with the Flash in the bottom of the 6th inning. After loading the bases on two walks, an error, and a hit batter, Noah Berning drove in a run with a single. That was followed by a Henderson error that allowed two runs to score and the Miners had cut the lead to 7-3.
But the Miners could not add anything to the rally attempt until the bottom of the ninth when Dylan Toler drove in a run with a one-out single to cut the lead to three runs, which is where the game would end up.
Noah Berning finished the night 3-4 with 2 RBIs to lead the way for Madisonville. Dylan Toler was 2-3 with an RBI.
Ernesto Mendiondo got the start and took the loss for the Miners. He went 5 ⅓ innings, giving up seven runs, just four of them earned, on 8 hits, striking out one and walking three.
