Senior Knights stymied by McPherson

It wasn’t the best of nights for the Newton Senior Knights American Legion baseball team Wednesday against McPherson at Klein-Scott Field.
The Knights pitchers gave up 15 hits in a 12-5 loss to McPherson. The scheduled second game was canceled due to lightning in the area with the game tied 0-0 after two innings.
“We had some missed opportunities,” Newton manager Mark George said. “I thought pitcher Mike Kelly did a good job, except for the two runs he gave up (on a home run). He left the ball up and they put it in their wheelhouse.
“We certainly had opportunities, getting runners on in every inning, and not scoring them. It’s not that we have trouble scoring runs, but sometimes, we put too much pressure on ourselves. You can talk till you’re blue in the face about relaxing and having fun, but it has to be up to the guys. They have to go up there with a plan.”
McPherson used five hits, two walks and a hit batter to score four runs in the first two innings. Newton got back in the game with a two-run Baxter Schmidt single in the bottom of the second.
McPherson came back with six runs on five hits with an error in the top of the third. Evan Thomas hit a two-run double for Newton in the bottom of the third. Newton put two runners on base with no outs in the bottom of the fourth, but two strikeouts and a ground out ended the threat.
Newton missed a chance to get back in the game in the bottom of the fifth, loading the bases with no outs. The Knights were held to just one run on a double play and a strikeout.
Brett Middleton hit a two-run home run for McPherson in the top of the sixth. Newton squandered another chance to get back in the game in the bottom of the sixth, leaving bases loaded.
Scott Paramore went the distance pitching for McPherson, allowing five runs on six hits with four walks and 10 strikeouts. Paramore went four for five hitting with three doubles, three runs scored and three RBIs. Middleton went three for four with four RBIs. Mike Ryan went three for four with an RBI. Tyson Anderson went two for four with an RBI.
Four Newton pitchers saw action with starter Danny Thompson took the loss. Thomas went two for three with two doubles.
“I don’t know how many strikeouts we had with runners in scoring position, but it was not a very good number for us,” George said. “It was one of those nights. I won’t take anything away from Paramore. He had a slow break on his curveball and was spotting his fastball well. He was killing that outside corner and hitting the outside corner. He walked a lot of guys, but the strikeout equalized a lot of walks.”
McPherson improves to 13-16. Newton falls to 14-7. The Knights play at 6 p.m. Friday at Great Bend, followed by a nine-inning single game Saturday at Augusta. Saturday’s Cen-Ark League All-Star Game was canceled.
“We have a long road trip ahead of us,” George said. “We should be falling into our rotation with guys who are going to start. Arms should be pretty fresh for Friday. We need to have a good approach at the plate. (Sunday) will be a good experience for us. ... If we show up at the ballpark with the right approach, things will happen from there.”
First game
McPherson    ab    r    h    bi
Rierson ss    4    2    1    0
Paramore p    5    3    4    3
Hofer 2b    4    1    1    2
Anderson c    4    1    2    1
Middleton 1b    4    1    3    4
Dean rf    3    1    0    0
Ryan 3b    4    1    3    1
Williams lf    4    0    0    0
Baldwin cf    3    2    1    0
TOTALS    35    12    15    11
Newton    ab    r    h    bi
Gilbert lf    4    0    0    0
Preston ss    4    1    1    0
Boulet cf    2    2    1    0
Thomas p    3    1    2    2
Ronen 1b    2    1    0    0
Bonczyk c    3    0    0    0
Briar rf 3    0    0    0
Schmidt 2b    2    0    1    2
Opland 3b    3    0    1    0
TOTALS    26    5    6    4
McPher.    136    002    0    —12
Newton    022    010    x    —5
E — Preston, Rierson. DP — Newton, McPherson. LOB — McP. 7, New. 9. 2B — Paramore 3, Ryan, Thomas 2. HR — Middleton. SB — Ryan. CS — Middleton.
McPherson
    ip    h    r    er    bb    k
Paramore, W    7    6    5    5    4    10
Newton
    ip    h    r    er    bb    k
Thompson, L    2    5    4    4    2    2
Palmer    .2    5    6    4    1    0
Kelly    3.2    5    2    2    1    2
Thomas    .2    0    0    0    0    1
WP — Thompson, Palmer, Paramore. HBP — Hofer (Thompson), Bonczyk (Paramore), Schmidt (Paramore). Time — 2:02.
Second game
Suspended, lightning
McPherson    000    —0    0    0
Newton        00x    —0    1    0
Johnson and Williams; Preston and Jerde.