Fighting Squirrels KO'd: Dunklin County 19, Charleston 5

CHARLESTON -- Dunklin County Post 303 came to town Tuesday evening in search of a victory, and a victory is what they returned home with, defeating the Charleston Fighting Squirrels 19-5 in five innings.

Post 303 pitcher Heath Horvath was solid on the mound for the complete game win, giving up five runs, two of which were earned, on eight hits, a walk, a hit batter and eight strikeouts. Horvath remained on the mound after suffering a line drive shot right in the middle of the chest in " the bottom of the first inning.

I thought they " hit him well right off the bat, said Dunklin County " head coach Jamie Johnson. For him to take a shot like that and stay in the game and pitch, I think that shows a little heart by Heath. It almost got him in the heart. He took a heck of a shot."

Horvath, a Senath-Hornersville product, supported his own cause from the plate as well, going 3-for-5 with three singles, four RBI and two runs scored.

The Fighting Squirrels never quite could get up and running as the seven runs allowed to their opponent in the first inning " set the " tone.

Ugly, was the word that Charleston head coach Michael Minner used to describe the loss.

"If you can ' 't play defense and you can t ' put it in play, then you " can t win " the ball game, he added. We had too many strikeouts and too many errors. Combine that in with at least eight walks -- you can't put guys on and not get outs and expect to win the ball game ' against good teams. They re a good team and they swing " up and down the lineup. ' '

Charleston s offense wasn t completely non-existent as three of their eight hits came off the bat of No. 2 hitter Jarryd Smith, who was 3-for-3 with three singles, two runs scored and an RBI, while Blake Gaddis added a single, a triple " and three RBI.

I thought " they swung the bats well, said Johnson " of the Squirrels offense. We just got up a little bit and we just had some balls go our way. We just played " a pretty good ball game.

Matt Armstrong suffered the loss for Charleston, going three innings and some change, giving up 14 earned runs on 10 hits, eight walks and a hit batter. He also recorded two strikeouts in the defeat.

Aside from Horvath, Dustin Hunter and Aaron McCaig provided quite a bit offensively for Post 303. Hunter was 4-for-5 with four singles, three runs scored and three RBI, and Mc-Caig was 2-for-3 with a single, a triple, a walk, a sacrifice fly, two runs scored and three RBI.

The Fighting Squirrels will be back in action on Friday evening in the Fulton Wood Bat Classic.