GREENVILLE — The Greenville American Legion Post 140 18u baseball team are now 3-0 as they defeated Troy Post 43 6-1 at Sater Heights Park on June 4.

It was a complete effort from the Thunder. They limited their mistakes defensively, got seven innings out of Nathan Waggoner on the mound and scored at least a run in the first four innings.

Head coach Chad Henry said defensively, the team is doing all they can to limited their mistakes and play solid defense. He also said it’s hard to be perfect at a game where pros can’t be perfect in, but they are not letting their few mistakes hurt them.

“We’ve emphasized the minutia of going through and getting reps. Just everybody being in the right working on footwork and different stuff like that. Not just taking ground balls, but trying to get the footwork and making sure that our throws are lined up and being accurate there. We haven’t shot ourselves in foot yet,” Henry said.

Waggoner only allowed five hits in seven innings while racking up 13 strikeouts. Waggoner was a key contributor to Brookville’s run to regionals this season. He picked up where he left off in this game.

“Waggs was incredible. He made a run at Brookville, pitched really well. He was a big cog in that run,” Henry said. “To see him come out here and continue dealing the way he is, he can throw three pitches for a strike. He comes out and he mixes them up. He gets a lot of guess swings up there, not a lot of solid contact.”

The Thunder put up a run in the bottom of the first inning on a RBI double by Bryce Kramer.

They scored two more runs in the bottom of the second inning. Carson Bergman scored on a wild pitch and Kramer drove in his second run of the game with a RBI single.

Troy did get a run back in the top of the third inning on a RBI single. Greenville got it back in the bottom of the third. Xavier Matthews reached on base on an error and ended up at second base. Then the Troy pitcher committed back to back balks to score Matthews.

In the bottom of the fourth, Waggoner doubled to drive in a run. While on base, Kramer scored on a wild pitch to make it a 6-1 game.

Henry said the team came out and challenged the Troy pitchers from the start. The team goes up to the plate with a plan to force their pitch.

“When we teach at bats, it’s you against the pitcher. We’re trying to get on base and he’s trying to not let you get on base. We go up there with intent. It’s just not swinging at strikes that are coming in there. We’re looking for certain things, looking at different pitches in different counts. We’re being smart about it,” Henry said.

Tory did keep the Thunder off the scoreboard in the last two innings. Henry said the pitchers for Troy did a nice job mixing up their pitches and getting his team off balanced.

But with the pitching of Waggoner and the defense behind him, Greenville didn’t allow on many base runners to let Troy back in the game. Behind the plate, Kramer made a few nice throws to get base runners out on steal attempts. Henry said Kramer has a nice arm and is accurate with his throws.

The Thunder 18u team is building off the momentum they created from last season. Henry said after the 2-10 start with their young squad last season, they ended that season 9-4. This team has picked up where they left off from that ending.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected].