Fritts Homers as Orange Team Takes Game One of Series

October 02, 2009 | Baseball

Oct. 2, 2009

Knoxville, Tenn. -- Chris Fritts homered and the Orange Team got the most out of its four hits, along with a stellar performance from five pitchers as it held off the White Team in the first game of the Orange & White World Series, 4-3, at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

P.J. Polk and Charley Thurber each collected three hits and Zach Osborne and Josh Liles had a pair of safeties as the White team pounded out 10 hits. Polk added three steals with a double and Thurber drove in two with a pair of RBI doubles.

Starting pitchers, Steven Gruver for the Orange and Bryan Morgado for the White showed real promise as solid 1-2 punch in the rotation. Gruver allowed one run on four hits in 3 2/3 innings with three strikeouts. Morgado retired nine straight with five strikeouts in three innings of work after giving up a solo home run to Fritts to start the game.

"Overall I was pleased with everything," said head coach Todd Raleigh. "I thought Bryan and Steven set the tone early. Bryan really showed improvement after giving up the home run to not give up a hit after that. I thought we pitched really well tonight, especially Steven, whom I had not really seen pitch since the end of last season following his great summer."

After scratching for a pair of hits in the first inning and coming up empty, the White Team got on the board in the fourth as Polk, who reached on a bloop single to right and stole second, scored on Thurber's double in the left field corner past a diving Fritts.

"P.J. played really well today as did Charley with three hits apiece," noted Raleigh. "P.J. has really responded to the competition. He can be a catalyst for us. Chris has been playing really well for us and it showed tonight with the leadoff home run."

A throwing error by catcher Blake Forsythe on a steal attempt allowed Zach Osborne to score after walking and taking third on a hit-and-run by Josh Liles as the White Team grabbed a 2-1 lead on the unearned run in the fifth.

After being held to one hit through five innings, the Orange Team broke out with a pair of runs on two hits in the sixth in taking a 3-2 lead. Stephen McCray (0-1) was lifted after giving up a single, a hit batter and a walk to start the frame. Matt Ramsey, who would later pick up a save by pitching the ninth, legged out a infield single scoring Cody Stubbs for the tying run, while Ryan Duffy plated the go-ahead run on a Josh Allman balk.

Forsythe redeemed himself in the seventh by scoring an unearned run on an error after singling to center and taking third on a pair of balks by Andy Hillis giving the Orange Team a 4-2 lead.

"We made a few errors but a couple of those were communication things that can be corrected," said Raleigh. "We didn't do as well in our situational hitting as I would have liked, but there were some great defensive plays in the outfield and solid pitching."

The White Team closed the gap to 4-3 in the bottom of the frame on a pair of two-out doubles by Polk and Thurber.

Adam Adkins (1-0) picked up the win for the Orange with a team-high four strikeouts in two innings.

Game two of the Orange and White series is set for Sunday at 4:30 p.m.