Barnstormers Take Another Tough Loss In PONY League Tournament

(Editor's note: The Barnstormers game on Saturday was rained out. There is no make-up game, and their season has concluded.)

HAZELWOOD—Mama said there’d be days like this.

And, unfortunately for the Jefferson County Barnstormers, Friday’s performance at the Hazelwood Sports Complex was one only a mother could love. The PONY League Zone Tournament hosts played one of their worst games of the summer in a 16-0 loss to the Central Michigan Stars.

“What bothered me today, was the (attitude and demeanor) our guys showed,” Barnstormers coach Brian Garner said. “There were two college coaches out there watching, and we got beat 16 to nothing, and they just took it like it didn’t mean nothing.

“That looks bad on our whole program. We’ve got guys that colleges ought to be looking at. We’re not showing (our true selves).”

It truly was a bad day for the Barnstormers program.

It started with a four-run first inning for Central Michigan, which could’ve ended with no runs scoring if Barnstormers shortstop Devon Tolan could have made a relatively routine play on a bases-loaded ground ball that would’ve been the third out.

But Tolan didn’t field the ball cleanly, which allowed a run to score and kept the bases loaded for Central Michigan’s Josh Watters, who promptly cleared the bases with a triple into the right-field corner that gave the Stars a 4-0 lead.

“That’s a play we’ve got to make,” Garner said. “It really kind of opened the floodgates.”

Barnstormers starter Bryar Langley, a 2010 Hillsboro High graduate who re-joined the Jefferson County crew late this summer, managed to shut the door by striking out the next batter.

Unfortunately, though, that was just the beginning of Langley’s rough outing.

In the second inning, the Maple Woods Community College (Kansas City) signee just couldn’t hit his spots.

He gave up five hits, walked two batters and threw three wild pitches. Factoring in three more errors committed by his defense, Langley allowed Central Michigan to send 13 men to the plate, score nine runs and build a 13-0 lead.

“I just want these guys to show what kind of players they really are,” Garner said. “We haven’t had (troubles) like this all year. This is the first time we’ve been shut out all season. I expect us to win tomorrow.”

The one bright spot for Jefferson County on Friday was the relief pitching of Crystal City High senior-to-be Tyler McClanahan, who despite throwing less than two innings all summer, pitched two innings against the Stars and only allowed two hits and one run.

Cody Russell, a 2011 Hillsboro grad, pitched the final inning for the Barnstormers and had two hits to lead the offense.

Jefferson County will close out its summer season on Saturday at the Hazelwood Sports Complex with a final PONY League Zone playoff game against the Chicago-area champ Bedford Park Vipers at 1:30 p.m.

Both the Barnstormers and Vipers are 0-2 in the Zone Tournament, and will be ending their 2011 campaign with Saturday’s contest.

“You know why I say I expect us to win?” Garner said. “Because these guys expect to win. I expect us to play great and do some things we haven’t shown yet in this tournament. Tomorrow’s going to be better, I promise.”