GRIFFITH, Ind. – The Griffith Generals dropped their second straight game to start the 2023 campaign, as they were beaten by the Southland Vikings by a score of 9-5. The narrative was similar to opening night, as Griffith struggled out of the bullpen and had another handful of defensive miscues.

Jimmy Fairley was tagged for the loss despite a solid four innings of work, as he only gave up one run and struck out five. The sentiment in the dugout was that Fairley put together a very good outing.

“Felt good,” said Fairley. “First time I’ve started in a while – since JUCO. Two-seam was really on, but I was working on my changeup, which was a strikeout pitch today.”

Pitching coach Ryan Jemar said Fairley’s performance was “a testament to him working every day.” Jemar is an assistant coach at Saint Xavier University, where Fairley pitched 11 innings and put up a 1.64 ERA last season for the Cougars.

Regarding the bullpen performance, Jemar stated that things were “very methodical” from the Generals bullpen. “We need to speed the game up, more pace of play, I would say… trusting our stuff, throwing it over the plate every single time.”

The Griffith relief effort yielded all but one run scored by the Vikings. The floodgates opened in the sixth inning when Kaden Kuzmi, Caleb Deel, and Josh Ortiz had to work together to compile three outs. Four runs crossed the plate in the frame. Ortiz, however, was the only reliever in the Generals bullpen to not surrender a run in relief of Fairley, as he pitched 1.2 innings and struck out two Vikings while only allowing one walk.

“We’re learning who’s good where in the pitching rotation,” remarked skipper Peter Romsek after the game. “We’ll break out soon.”

The Generals have two days off to regroup after an 0-2 start, as the Lake County Corn Dogs will return to town for a two-game weekend series starting on Saturday at 6:10 p.m.

5-31 Box Score – Griffith Generals Game 2.pdf (ismmedia.com)