From The Tribune

Jennings County took advantage of a struggling Seymour offense on its way to a 2-0 win in the second round of the Hoosier Hills Conference baseball tournament on Tuesday night at American Legion Field.

The Owls mustered just three hits and two runners in scoring position during the defensively dominated contest.

“Offensively, we’re not a very good team right now,” Seymour head coach Jeremy Richey said. “All three nights this week, we couldn’t get our bats going. We had four hits against Jeffersonville (Monday), four hits against Scottsburg on Tuesday and three tonight. It’s disappointing, but we’ve got to find something to turn this around.”

Sophomores Aiden Darlage, Vince Wilson and Charlie Longmeier recorded Seymour’s hits.

Freshman Bret Perry was on the mound for the Owls, pitching a complete game. He struck out three and walked two while allowing five hits and two earned runs.

Once again, efficiency was key for Perry, who threw just 77 pitches through seven innings.

“Bret kept throwing strikes tonight,” Richey said. “He gave us a chance to stay in the game. To give up two runs in seven innings, we’re going to take that every time. Just disappointing that we couldn’t find any offense to give him some support because he threw well.”

The freshman was aided by his defense throughout the game, especially the left side of the infield. Third baseman Brandon Hubbard and shortstop Jack VonDielingen were each responsible for four assists, a team high.

“(Jennings) elevated some balls today,” Richey said, “and with this wind our outfielders made some nice catches. All of the balls in the infield, we made plays on. So, I was pleased with our defense. We made the one error, but other than that I thought our defense was pretty good tonight.”

Unfortunately for Seymour, the Jennings County defense was nearly flawless on Wednesday. Led by pitcher Keegan Manowitz, the Panthers committed zero errors.

Manowitz finished the game with three strikeouts, two walks, and zero earned runs.

The Panthers’ offense scored both of its runs in the fifth inning behind a two-out RBI single by junior Carson McNulty and a double steal with runners on first and third.

After a stretch of three games in three days, the Owls’ record dropped to 9-8.

“We’ve got a game Friday, then a busy week next week,” Richey said. “We’ve got to get this offense figured out. We’ve got to find a way to get some hits and score some runs.”

Seymour’s final game in the HHC tournament is on Friday. The eight-team, three-round tournament follows a winners-play-winners and losers-play-losers format, meaning that after losing games in the first two rounds, the Owls will compete for seventh place against the loser of Wednesday’s Bedford North Lawrence-Columbus East matchup.