Cincinnati Steam

Cincinnati Steam Motor to 6-1 Victory

The Cincinnati Steam capitalized on Xenia’s miscues to get their first victory of the young 2007 season. With the Steam down 1-0 going into the top of the 5^th, they sent 12 hitters to the plate, making the best of the 3 errors that Xenia Athletes in Action (AIA) made in the inning, scoring six times. With Cincinnati taking a 6-1 after the top of the 5^th, three Steam pitchers combined to shut AIA down the remainder of the way. With the victory the Steam evened their record at 1-1, while giving Xenia their first loss of the season that evened their record at 1-1.

Cincinnati christened Xenia’s brand new synthetic turf facility by opening the game with an infield single by designated hitter Nate Fields (Ball State/Anderson HS). After Jason Cisper (Miami U (OH)/Moeller HS) grounded out, Jake Oester (U of Toledo/McNicholas) hit a grounder to the right side of the shortstop with Fields going on the pitch, both runners were safe. The Steam’s threat quickly subsided by the next two hitters being retired. Cincinnati starter and eventual winner, right hander Patrick Berndsen (Thomas More/Elder), gave up two hits in Xenia’s half of the first but a pitcher friendly 4-6-3 double play got him out of a jam. Sophomore first baseman, Tommy Nurre (Miami U (OH)/St. Xavier) laced a single to right off the opposing team’s first baseman, but was left stranded in the top of the 2^nd. In Xenia’s half of the second, their designated hitter led off with a hit to right, was sacrificed to 2^nd, moved to 3^rd on a ground out and scored on a base hit by AIA shortstop and eight hole hitter Leroy Urbina. This rbi gave Xenia a 1-0 led. Cincinnati could not get timely hitting in the 3^rd and 4^th after walks an error and a hit batsman led to Cincinnati having runners in scoring position. With the Steam leaving six runners on base through the first four innings, the 5^th inning became adventurous for both teams.

In the top of the 5^th, Fields struck out to lead off the inning, then the wheels fell off for Xenia. Left fielder Cisper hit a ground ball to the right of Xenia’s first baseman, he bobbled and the pitcher was late covering the base. With Cisper reaching on AIA’s error and leading off of first base, he was picked off but an errant throw allowed him to reach 2^nd. Oester walked and Zach Hurley (Ohio State University/Springboro) was hit by a pitch. With bases loaded and one out, junior catcher Nate McKeon (University of Toledo), laced a single to left center driving in two runs to give the Steam a 2-1 lead and knock Xenia’s starter Josh Long out of the ball game. Centerfielder Ricky Betsch (Butler/LaSalle HS) singled driving in the third run of the inning. Nurre hits a grounder that is booted by AIA’s third baseman for Xenia’s third error of the inning. Freshman shortstop Ryan Strausborger (Indiana State) get a base hit driving in the fourth run and Fields returns for a second time in the inning, this time getting a base hit and driving in two runs. All tolled, the Steam scored six runs on four hits, while bring 12 hitters to the plate.

With the Steam holding a comfortable 6-1 lead Berndsen pitched a 1-2-3 5^th, then gave way to Robb Thompson (University of Cincinnati/Elder) who pitched a scoreless 6^th and 7^th and Darren Sizemore (Ohio State University/Ross HS) which hurled a scoreless 8^th and 9^th.

Saturday, June 9 Cincinnati Steam at Xenia Athletes in Action

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E

Steam 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 6 8 0

AIA 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 4

WP: Berndsen (1-0) LP: Long (0-1)

Hitting Leaders:
Steam: Nate Fields (2-5) 2 RBI
Nate McKeon (1-4) 2 RBI

AIA: Brian Muldowney (2-3)
Leroy Urbina (1-3) RBI

Records: Steam(1-1) Xenia AIA (1-1)

Next Game: Sunday June 10^th, 2:05pm at Western Hills High School v. Anderson Servants