The Lima Locos’ Jayden Davis tags out the Hamilton Joes’ Parker Lester during Saturday night’s game at Foundation Field in Hamilton.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
HAMILTON – The Lima Locos offense had racked up 29 runs over their last three playoff games.
Enter Joes right-hander Tyler Hutson.
Hutson (Southern Indiana) held the Locos in check with a 3-1 Hamilton victory in Game 2 of the best-of-3 Great Lakes Collegiate League championship series Saturday at Hamilton’s Foundation Field.
The series is even at 1.
“We have to battle back and be better tomorrow,” Locos coach Matt Furuto said. “We need to string better at-bats together.’’
Added Locos first baseman DJ Jackson, “The approach (tomorrow) is to do whatever it takes to win. If it’s hitting five bombs, it’s hitting five bombs to win. … It’s scratching and clawing and doing whatever it takes to win.’’
There will be one final game to determine the GLCL championship.
Game 3 will be at 7:05 p.m. today at Hamilton.
Hutson (1.57 regular-season ERA) rolled out a 92 mph, along with a moving, jumping breaking ball.
Hutson worked seven innings and gave up one run, earned, on five hits. He struck out seven and walked none.
Hutson threw 90 pitches.
“He commanded the zone and attacks,” Furuto said of Hutson “He threw three pitches for strikes and he threw first-pitch strikes, which made it tough. We let his pitch count stay low and we didn’t build that up so he was able to deep. Credit to him for working quick and throwing strikes.’’
Hamilton led 3-1 entering the top of the ninth with Chase Hopewell (Cincinnati) on the mound.
Jayden Davis led off the ninth with a triple for the Locos.
Hopewell then got a strikeout, a shallow pop to right and a strike out to end it.
Hopewell threw the final two shutout innings with two strikeouts for the save.
“He’s a good arm,” Furuto said of Hopewell. “We forced him to make good pitches and he did.’’
The Locos took a 1-0 lead in the fourth. The Joes came back with three in the home fourth to take a 3-1 lead.
The Locos jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the fourth when Jackson blasted a solo home run to left. The ball hit three-fourths of the way up the netting, which is attached to the top of the fence.
“I think I got it all,” Jackson said. “That was the only pitch I could have hit and I didn’t miss it.
“He (Hutson) threw strikes. He got in a groove and once he got in a groove, he got rolling.’’
The Joes came up with three runs in the fourth to grab a 3-1.
After the first two Joes made outs in the fourth, Tristen Melvin singled. Clay Badylak and Samuel Low walked to load the bases.
Cal Brazier lined a two-run single to left and the Joes had a 2-1 lead.
The Joes’ lead grew to 3-1 on an RBI single to center by Parker Lester.
In the seventh, the Locos’ Josh Mrozek singled with one out. Cade Sadler lined a shot deep to left, but Joes left fielder Stephen Stigler made a running catch, falling down against the fence.
Lefty Grant Reising (Eastern Michigan) started for the Locos. He went four innings and gave up three runs, two earned, on six hits. He struck out three and walked three.
Jacob Newman came on in relief and threw four shutout innings. He gave up four hits and struck out two.
Locos notes: This is the fourth time the Locos and Hamilton have met in the GLCL championship series.
The Locos took the title in 2015, while the Joes won the title in 2016 and 2021.
