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With a wild throw from short stop to first base, the Settlers' center fielder Parker Gibson started off the night with a double in the bottom of the first. And with the help of his teammates, Gibson made his way home to give the Settlers an early 1-0 lead.

 

The score remained stagnant for the Settlers next two innings as Copperheads' starting pitcher Jake Harper held his own on the mound, striking out two and allowing only one walk in the first three innings.

 

However, the Copperheads' offense answered the Settlers' run with one of their own as starting pitcher for the Settlers, Josh Mann, hit Ben Netzel to start the third inning, allowing him to reach first. After walking both Matt Glomb and Joe Sturino, and a base hit by Dan Schmidt, Netzel reached home plate to tie the game at 1-1.

 

After a great effort to even the score, the Copperheads' couldn't find away to pull ahead, leaving three men on base to close out the third.

 

Settlers' right fielder, Alex Johnson, found the sweet spot on his bat crushing the ball over the center field fence for a one-run homer to jump start the bottom of the fourth, giving the Settlers' their second lead of the night.

 

The Settlers' kept the bats going in the fourth, helping third baseman, Jonathan Finnegan to run around the diamond stretching the lead to two.

 

"It's pretty aggravating they get hits like the ones that bloop over your head and you know you can't do much with [the ball]," said Harper on the seven earned hits for the Settlers. "It's aggravating knowing that your making good pitches, but they're just getting lucky."

 

Harper retired after 4.1 innings, giving Evan Brisentine the opportunity to close out.

 

Unfortunately, the Cheads were unable to answer in the fifth but allowed the Settlers' to earn two more runs making the score 5-1 with four to go.

 

Copperhead pitchers, Michael Mestdagh and Shane Henkle held the Settlers to five runs the next three innings, striking out three batters a piece.

 

Third baseman, Schmidt, finished the game on a high note in the eighth inning with a one-run homer over the center field wall to shrink the gap to three.

 

Unable to do much more with the bats, the Cheads could only rack up two runs falling to the Settlers.

 

Starting pitcher Harper mentioned his frustrations with the seven hits earned by the Settlers after the game, but he is learning from this game and is looking towards the next.

 

"It was a bad game," said Harper. "Nobody really had a decent game tonight, but we are back at home [Friday], so we should be alright."

 

The Southern Ohio Copperheads presented by O'Bleness Health System will be back in action Friday night at Bob Wren Stadium to take on the Hamilton Joes and close yet another series for the season.