SACKETS HARBOR — In a game in which both offenses were quiet, defense determined who seized first place in Frontier League "D'' Division baseball on Tuesday.
Although visiting Copenhagen outhit Sackets Harbor 4-2, the Golden Knights were victimized by their own shoddy infield defense during a 6-1 loss that dropped them a game behind the Patriots and into second place.
Copenhagen (5-4 overall, 5-3 league) committed seven errors, including four on consecutive grounders in the bottom of the first inning, and allowed all unearned runs in a disappointing defensive performance.
"That's two days in a row our defense let our pitchers down,'' said Copenhagen coach Jim Spaulding, whose club made five miscues in a one-run win over Lyme on Monday. "Our youth (in the infield) really showed today because we couldn't even make a routine play.''
Sackets Harbor (7-2, 6-2) was the welcome recipient of Copenhagen's mistakes, scoring five times in the first and once more in the second. The Patriots also received a strong pitching performance from junior right-hander Jake Simmons, who tossed a four-hitter, struck out three and walked three.
"It was nice to get an early lead because you don't have to be so perfect,'' said Simmons. "But really my goal was to pitch like the game was scoreless, and that helps me be more aggressive.''
Simmons took a no-hitter through five innings before allowing three consecutive hits in the Copenhagen seventh and the only run.
"Jake's been pretty consistent,'' said Sackets Harbor coach Paul Gibbs. "He's not overpowering, but he throws strikes, gets ahead of batters and makes them hit his pitches.''
Copenhagen's inability to make a defensive play was the undoing of sophomore right-hander Chris Kellogg. After Kellogg struck out the leadoff batter in the bottom of the first, the Golden Knights misplayed three infield ground balls and dropped a pop fly in the outfield. Beau Fletcher drove in two runs with a double, and Brett Weller added an RBI single to make it 5-0.
Kellogg allowed another unearned run in the second without giving up a hit.
"Chris certainly did his job,'' said Spaulding. "But I took him out (after the second inning) because we have two more games this week and we'll probably need him again.''
Soft-tossing left-hander Ryan Horn relieved Kellogg in the third and shut out the Patriots the rest of the way, not allowing a hit.
Sophomore David Hovendon, who finished 2-for-4, broke up the Simmons no-hitter with a solid leadoff single to center in the Copenhagen sixth. Kellogg singled Hovendon to third, and Jimmy Fisher scored Hovendon with a single.
But after a sacrifice bunt moved runners to second and third, Kellogg was thrown out at home on a grounder to Simmons. Simmons avoided further damage by getting Shane Berghorn to ground out to second.
The Patriots have won six in a row since Gibbs suffered a fractured jaw during batting practice. "They don't want me anywhere near them now,'' Gibbs joked.
The two teams meet again on May 16 at Copenhagen.
