Charlestown Pirate Baseball hosted their MSC rivals from Brownstown Thursday evening to close out conference play for the season.  The game, originally scheduled for May 11th had been rescheduled due to wet field conditions, proved that this year’s young Pirate Slugger team have potential to be a sleeper opponent in next week’s sectional.  Sophomore Brendan Brainard (3-0) got the call tonight, pitching seven complete innings, earning the win after walking two and striking one out, while the Pirate defense equalized five Brave hits.  Brownstown (14-6 & 6-3 MSC) scored one run in the top of the second, before being denied home plate the remainder of the game.  Brave pitcher Maxie (4-1), recorded his first lose of the season while visiting Charlestown (7-16 & 3-6 MSC) Thursday evening; as both team logged two errors each.  The Pirates tied the game in the bottom of the sixth, but found a hero in Junior Jacob Doherty who finished the game 1-2 at the plate including a double and the game winning run in the bottom of the seventh.  “Couldn’t be more proud of the guys for the heart and effort tonight.  We didn’t play mistake free but they showed a ton of heart and that’s what matters most.  Brendan pitched exceptionally well and gave our team a chance.  This was a quality win for our young ball club”, commented a pleased Pirate Head Coach Ricky Romans.  The Pirates will travel to and compete in the Bedford-North Lawrence Invitational Saturday, before opening Sectional play Wednesday versus Sectional host Silver Creek.

The varsity/JV baseball contest between Austin and Charlestown, originally scheduled for tonight, has been postponed and rescheduled for Monday, May 8th at 5:30pm.

Excellent defense got it done Monday evening as the Pirate Baseball team surprised host North Harrison 5-2 in conference play.  Charlestown (5-6 & 2-1 MSC) logged no errors while scoring five off eight hits.  North Harrison (2-6 & 1-2 MSC) committed two errors and earned their runs off two hits.  Drew Fifer (2-1) got the win from the mound, retiring four and walking only two batters in seven innings of pitching.  The Pirates jumped out to a two nothing lead after three, then added three big runs in the fourth….combined with solid defense to stymie the Cougars the remainder.  Fifer also finished the game 2-4 from the plate, including two RBIs while Garrett Burke finished 2-3 from the plate and adding an RBI.  “I’m very proud of our guys effort tonight.  After a tough few days to end last week, they came out ready to play and did a nice job.  Drew pitched very well, our defense was excellent and we got some key hits tonight as well.  Great way for our young guys to bounce back”, commented Pirate Head Coach Ricky Romans.  The Pirates are back in action Thursday when hosting Scottsburg at 5:00 pm.

The Charlestown Pirate Baseball team (4-4 & 1-0 MSC) traveled to Pekin Monday evening to begin Mid-Southern Conference Baseball play against the host Musketeers.  The Pirates trailed Eastern 2-1 after completion of the first innings of play, but then opened things up scoring two runs in the third, three in the fourth and another four in the fifth to secure the 10-4 victory.  Charlestown scored their ten runs off nine hits while committing three errors; and Eastern (0-4 & 0-1 MSC) scored their four runs off six hits while committing only one error.  Freshman Drew Fifer got the win from the mound, improving his pitching record to 1-1 on the young season.  Fifer pitched five innings, allowing just four hits and two earned runs, while striking out three from the mound.  Pirate Junior Nolan Abell finished the game one for three from the plate-including a double, scoring three runs, and four RBI’s.  Senior Brandon Love and Junior Jacob Doherty both finished the game 2-for-4 at the plate with an RBI each; and Doherty scoring twice.  After the game Pirate Head Coach Ricky Romans commented that “After a sluggish start tonight, the guys stepped it up and played well.  Pitching was good tonight and our offense came through with some big hits at the right time.  It’s nice to get a road conference win under our belt.”  Pirate Baseball is back in action Thursday, April 13th hosting Corydon at 6:00 pm.

On Friday evening, the Pirate Baseball team (3-4 overall; 0-0 MSC) hosted a team from Tri County, Michigan for a double header with New Albany. New Albany defeated Tri County, Michigan 13-3 in game one of the doubleheader, and the Pirates played Tri County following. Tri County jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the top of the first, but the Pirates answered with 1 in the bottom half and 3 in the bottom of the second and never looked back in route to the 19-5 win over Tri County, Michigan to earn their first win of the season. Andrew Snider (1-0) was the winning pitcher for the Pirates. On offense, the Pirates were led by Senior Brandon Love (2-3, run and 3 runs batted in) and Alec Sipes (4-4, 3 doubles and 1 run batted in) in a good offensive night. Head Coach Ricky Romans commented, “Very sloppy game for both teams. We didn’t come out ready to play in the field tonight but we got it together after the 1st inning. With a young squad, that could have have set a bad tone for us for the rest of the night but to the guys credit, they stayed focused and got through it.” The Pirates faced off against New Washington in a double header on Saturday, and will next open MSC play tonight, traveling to Eastern.