BASEBALL: Sparta shuts out Elverado

The Falcons took one on the chin at home against Sparta on Wednesday, falling 12-0 in six innings and registering just one hit at the plate against Bulldogs' starter Seth Ferguson.

Alec Valerius had a base hit in the bottom of the third inning, but was stranded at first base after three straight strikeouts. Elverado had just two base runners the rest of the way - Austin Hester and Logan Cavitt drew walks in the bottom of the fifth.

"We're not swinging the bats real well right now," said Falcons head coach Tim Davis. "Too many guys watching fastballs go by them. We just need to be more aggressive and try to get some more base runners. The last couple games we haven't got any runners on, so we're not really giving ourselves an opportunity to score."

Valerius was also the pitcher of record for EHS, tossing the first four-plus innings before turning things over to Hester. Valerius allowed seven hits and three walks with five strikeouts, Hester worked two innings and gave up five hits and a walk with three punch-outs.

Sparta got three runs on three hits and a walk in the top of the first, tacked on a run in the second, and took advantage of an error and a walk to start the fifth for another three-run frame.

"(Valerius's) pitch count got up after the error in the fifth, and it just kind of snowballed after that," Davis said. "I was really happy with Austin (Hester) coming in and throwing strikes. We just need to play a little defense to help our pitchers out."

Elverado (0-4) will host Steeleville on Monday in Dowell.