Parker's bat, arm lead Huron to key Bay win over Edison

HURON — Cole Parker missed the first game this season between Huron and Edison because he was on spring break. He made up for lost time on Thursday, leading the Tigers to a 3-2 victory over the Chargers. Parker hit a two-run home run to break a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth inning. The senior right-hander also cut down a runner at home plate and retired eight straight Edison batters after relieving starter Chris Hand with trouble brewing in the top of the fifth. "He's been kind of the glue to this team the last two, three years and it showed again today," Huron coach Dan Lindsley said. "That home run was huge and he did a great job pitching when he came on and got us out of a jam. "He's locked in in all facets of the game; he's just a special kid." Two other seniors helped Huron break a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the seventh and move into first place in the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division. Aiden Kastor lined a one-out single to right-center field and Kadyn Yates mashed a one-hop double to the fence in left to put runners on second and third. Kaden Staley followed with a ground ball, and a throwing error allowed the winning run to score. "I just waited back on it; it was right down the middle," Yates said while holding two rakes as the big catcher prepared to do some postgame grooming around home plate. "I had to swing at it and put it in play. This is a huge win for us." The win pushed Huron's record to 10-5 overall and 5-1 in the Bay. Edison fell to 8-5, 4-1. The Chargers won the first meeting between the rivals, 3-2. "That was a great high school baseball game," Huron coach Dan Lindsley said. "They had some situations where they could've scored and we made a couple plays. They made some plays when we had first and second and nobody out (in the fourth). "Just a great game. Hopefully this is a turning point for our season." Starting pitchers Keegan Smith (Edison) and Hand breezed through the first three innings before Huron struck in the fourth. Zach Murray led off the bottom half of the inning with a triple that carried past a diving Thomas Simon in left-center field. Parker followed with his first high school home run, which landed to the left of the 360 sign in left field. The blast gave Huron a 2-0 edge. "Zach Murray hit a bomb, and as soon as he hit that it got me amped up," said Parker. "I was waiting for the first strike to come and I knew what to do with it. "I saw it go so high and thought the wind was definitely going to carry it out. I hit one in warmups so that kind of set me off." Joey Schade and Thomas Cozzens walked with nobody out, but Huron couldn't turn those baserunners into a big inning. Edison faced the same situation in the top of the fifth. Keegan Smith led off with a walk and Simon singled. After a groundout, Brady Barker scored Smith with a single. Noah Smith's double scored Simon sent Barker to third. Lindsley gave the baseball to Parker, who induced a soft groundout to Schade at first base and a ground ball back to the mound to end the threat and keep the game tied. In the fourth inning, Parker, playing second, cut down a runner at the plate with one out. That throw might have ended up saving two runs. "We went home once with the infield in and didn't score," Edison coach Sean Hoover said. "We had some big bats coming up and if you don't get a good jump off the ball you don't want to risk it. They sat back on that ball and we might've been able to sneak it across. "You don't know (Schade) is playing back; if he charges it you're dead meat." Edison's Clint Finnen was the only player on either team with two hits, both singles. Hand struck out five, including three in the first inning, and Parker struck out three. He did not allow a ball out of the infield. "I felt really confident, especially that last inning when the top of their order was coming up," Parker said. "I knew they wanted to get something going and I didn't want to let it happen." Edison's Keegan Smith and Fox each struck out three and combined to allow only five hits. "Our guys did well, only a couple hiccups in the top of the third," Hoover said about his pitchers. "They did well to get out of a couple rallies, made their pitches and gave our defense a chance to make plays." Now the Tigers and Chargers will try to win out in the Bay. Huron has two Bay road games next week, Monday at Margaretta and Wednesday at Oak Harbor. Edison hosts Willard on Monday before games against Port Clinton at home Wednesday and on the road two days later. "We came here and battled," Hoover said. "Our dugout was great and the atmosphere was really good. Sometimes it takes these close losses to learn something about yourself and your character and hopefully you can build off that and the next time it's a close game the balls bounce your way." Edison 000 020 0 — 2 5 1Huron 000 200 1 — 3 5 1 WP: Cole Parker. LP: Hayden Fox 2B: (E) Noah Smith; (H) Kadyn Yates. 3B: (H) Zach Murray. HR: (H) Parker