CONVOY — The weather was almost perfect for baseball Saturday at the Crestview Athletic Complex as sectional action got underway.
In the opener, something had to give between Fort Jennings (looking for its first tournament win in the 7-year tenure of Jeff Swick) and Wayne Trace (trying for its first victory of 2008).
Behind the solid pitching of senior Ross Gerdeman, the Musketeers (10-10) got that win for Swick, 5-3.
“It’s good to get the monkey off our back. You do start to think about it, though you say you don’t, as coaches and players,” Swick acknowledged. “We all wanted this one so badly. Today, I didn’t have to worry about what I would say to the kids afterward, about another disappointment. Now we can play Jefferson Thursday and not have that on our minds. They’re good enough.”
Gerdeman (4-3; 7 IP, 7 hits, 3 runs, 1 earned, 7 Ks) threw 102 pitches (72 strikes).
“His limit is around 100, so he was getting there. He was throwing strikes; when his pitch count is there for seven innings, we know that’s what he is doing,” Swick continued. “He settled down as the game wore on. I think when he started, he was so ready to go that he was a bit nervous. Once that got out of him, he trusted the defense to help him. We made a couple of errors but he battled through them.”
The Musketeers scored 4 in the third against Riley Linder (0-6). Aaron Chandler led off with a Texas-leaguer to right, stole second and moved to third on Drew Mesker’s infield hit off the pitcher. A wild pitch scored Chandler and movedf Mesker to second. Josh Horstman walked. Matt Krietemeyer (2-for-3) legged out an infield hit to short. Another wild toss scored Mesker and moved both runners up, allowing them easily to score on a 2-run rip to right by Josh Calvelage and a 4-0 lead.
The Raiders (0-20) did get runners on in each of the first four frames but ended up stranding four.
The Orange and Black added their final tally in the fifth. With two down, Krietemeyer doubled to deep right. Pinch-runner Brad Trentman advanced on a passed ball and scored on an error on Calvelage’s grounder.
The Raiders got a pair in the visitors’ half of the sixth. With one down, Joe Morehead (2-for-3) singled to right, advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on a hit to right by Linder. Andrew Horner’s groundout scored Morehead and advanced Linder. He moved to third on an error on a grounder hit by Justin Davis. Davis looked to steal a base but hesitated; an error on the play allowed Linder to come home for a 5-2 deficit.
The Red, White and Blue got the final run in the seventh. With one gone, Henk Akkerman beat out an infield hit to short and swiped second. Ryan Davis singled him to third. Davis got picked off base but got in enough of a rundown to allow Akkerman to burgle home. Evan Dasher bounced out to end the game.
“If you look at the amount of errors, wild pitches and passed balls, it wasn’t a well-played game. We got nine of those mistakes but still only scored five runs,” Swick added. “We’re going to have to hit much better (6 Saturday) to beat a quality team like Jefferson (5 p.m. Thursday). Still, we know we’re the underdogs and the pressure is off.”
Jennings has a regular-season game at home today versus Miller City.
In the nightcap Saturday, Ottoville rode Colbey Basinger’s right arm to a 6-2 defeat of Lincolnview (4-11).
“Whenever you play a Crestview or a Lincolnview over here in the tournament, it’s always tough. We’ve had some success here and Colbey’s been a part of it,” Big Green coach Tony Castronova noted. “He’s our only senior and a 4-year letterman, so he knows what this means. He gave us a strong effort. He isn’t going to strike out many but our defense behind him was outstanding; I was impressed with how we played.”
As Lincolnview mentor Roger Salisbury has gotten used to in 2008, one inning — this time it was the fourth, when Ottoville (9-11) batted around — cost his Lancers.
“That was it. They led off with a couple of hits and then we started pressing, trying to make the big play to get out of it,” he acknowledged. “I can’t fault the effort; we just tried too hard and threw the ball around too much.”
Both Basinger (3-3; 7 IP, 5 hits, 2 earned runs, 1 walk, 1 K; 83 pitches, 51 strikes) and Jordan Simpson (2-4; 6 IP, 8 hits, 6 runs, 4 earned, 2 Ks; 62 pitches, 53 strikes) were extremely efficient.
The Green and Gold got all the scores they needed in the home half of the fourth. Matt Niemeyer lashed a double to the warning track in left center and moved to third on a single to left by David Wurst; a throwing miscue on the play plated Niemeyer and put Wurst at second. He went to third on a shot to left by Andrew Koch (2-for-3) and scored on an error on a grounder hit by Jordan Schimmoeller. Basinger beat out a bunt hit to third to load the bases. Alex Odenweller lined a hit up the gut to plate Koch and Schimmoeller; an error on the play allowed Basinger to score and put Odenweller at third. A knock to center by Jacob Landin plated pinch-runner Logan Kaverman for the sixth tally.
The Lancers got one back in the fifth. Kyle Thatcher led off with a single to left. An out later, Brock Profit doubled him to third, from where he scored on Josh Hoehn’s fly ball to left.
The Yellow and Blue got the final run of the game in the seventh. With one down, Thatcher doubled to deep center. An out later, Profit’s second 2-base hit (center) scored him. Profit moved to third on a wild pitch but Basinger retired Hoehn to end the game.
“The biggest concern I have is that we relaxed some after getting those six runs. We hit the ball well before then but seemed to let up after,” Castronova added. “The key in high school baseball is to put the ball in play consistently. You want to force the opponent’s defense to make plays. They made a couple of mistakes that helped us; we didn’t make those mistakes.”
Ottoville takes on Crestview 5 p.m. Wednesday in the tournament.
“Jordan pitched well. Again, just that one inning got him,” Salisbury added. “This year was a big struggle. He went from being our No. 4 pitcher last year to our No. 1. We lost a lot of production from last spring.”
Lincolnview hosts Bluffton this afternoon.