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Steam Drop Xenia
Game One (7 innings) Sand (1-0) needed just 68 pitches (49 strikes) to shut down the Terriers, allowing one earned run on four hits in 7.0 innings with no walks and three strikeouts. He threw fewer than 10 pitches in each of the first five innings and sent down 11 consecutive batters at one point. The complete game was the third in the GLSCL this season and the 15th in Steam history. Sand improves to 5-0 in his Steam career and is now the Steam’s all-time leader in strikeouts per nine innings (7.60; 38 strikeouts in 45.0 innings). Jordan Darnell (Elon) started and took the loss for Stark County after giving up two earned runs on three hits in 5.0 innings of work, throwing 89 pitches (52 strikes). Darnell (1-1) struck out six but was hurt by five walks and a hit batter (two walks came around to score and his hit batter forced in a run). Ryan Strausborger (Indiana State) went 2-for-4 with a triple, a run scored (his league-leading 14th), an RBI, and a stolen base for the Steam, and Kyle Bluestein (Jacksonville State) went 2-for-3 with a walk, an RBI, and a stolen base. Mark Lapikas (Toledo), Greg Ferrell (Mount Union), Justin Mackert (The Citadel), and Joe Bogdewiecz (Washington & Jefferson) each notched a hit for the Terriers, with Ferrell scoring the only run on a single by Mackert. The Steam threatened in the first inning when with one out, Drew Schmidt (Xavier) reached on an error and Jon Edgington (Miami) followed with a walk to put runners on first and second with one out. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch after Bluestein struck out, but Brad Gschwind (Miami) struck out looking to leave two runners in scoring position. Sand cruised through the first inning on just eight pitches and appeared on his way to another quick inning in the second, retiring the first two batters on three pitches. But next batter Ferrell launched a triple high off the wall in center field and Mackert followed with a line drive base hit just over the glove of a leaping Edgington to give the Terriers a 1-0 lead. The run snapped a 19.0-inning scoreless streak by Steam starting pitchers. Darnell struck out five batters in the first two innings, four of which came with runners on base. Cincinnati tied the game at one in the third inning, benefiting from two walks and a hit batter. With one out, Schmidt walked and Edgington followed with a single just over the outstretched glove of Kevin Haas (Akron). After Bluestein walked to load the bases with one out, Gschwind lifted a short fly ball to right, too shallow to score Schmidt from third. Schmidt trotted home, however, when a Darnell pitch grazed the jersey of Ben Thomas (Xavier), his ninth RBI of the year and first in the last five games. Darnell’s fifth walk of the game in the fourth inning turned out to be costly. J.R. Reynolds (Ohio), making his first career start, drew a base on balls with one out and Strausborger launched a high fly ball off the left field wall for an RBI triple, giving the Steam a 2-1 advantage. Cincinnati failed to plate another run, though, as Schmidt grounded to short and Edgington hit a one-hopper right back to Darnell to strand Strausborger at third. Strausborger’s triple made him the Steam’s all-time leader in triples with three. Cincinnati failed to score a runner from third with one out for the second consecutive inning in the fifth. Bluestein led off with a single to left, stole second base, and moved to third when Gschwind grounded out to second. Thomas followed with a ground ball to Haas at shortstop, who easily threw out Bluestein at the plate for the second out, and Cody Elliott (Ball State) grounded into a force play to end the inning. The Steam added two key insurance runs in the sixth against new pitcher Jake Arendsen (Oakland). Ryan Bellamy (Xavier) and Strausborger singled to put runners on first and third with one out, and Arendsen then walked Schmidt and Edgington to force in a run. Bluestein greeted new pitcher Perci Garner (Ball State) with an RBI single to plate Strausborger and make the score 4-1 in favor of Cincinnati, but Gschwind grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. Cincinnati stranded 10 runners in the game, including seven in scoring position. Gschwind saw his six-game hitting streak come to an end after going 0-for-4 with a strikeout. Game Two (9 innings) The Steam sent 14 batters to the plate and scored nine times in the fifth inning and coasted to a 14-10 victory over Stark County in game two. Cincinnati (8-4) rallied from 6-1 and 8-4 deficits in the game to notch their fourth straight win. The Steam recorded seven doubles in the game, presumably a team record (pending further research). The first eight batters of the fifth inning all reached base and scored for the Steam, who entered the inning down 8-4. Edgington began the inning with a double over the head of Mackert in left, and Gschwind followed with an infield single to put runners on the corners. Facing new pitcher J.D. Osborne (Wofford), Thomas hit a ground ball single through the right side to plate Edgington, and Bobby Freking (Xavier) executed a perfect hit-and-run single to score Gschwind and make the score 8-6. Travis Shaw (Kent State) walked to load the bases, and T.J. Jones (Cincinnati) followed with his second double of the game to score two and tie the game. Tim Issler (Ball State) singled through the right side off of new pitcher Kasey Kearcher (Oakland) to score Shaw and Jones and put the Steam on top at 10-8. After a Trace Voshell (Ohio) single and a Strausborger popout (the first out of the inning), Issler stole third base without a throw and trotted home on a single to right by Edgington to make the score 11-8. After Gschwind walked to load the bases, Thomas hit a sacrifice fly to score Voshell, with Edgington advancing to third on the play. Freking followed with a ground ball to second, but the ball took a bad hop and second baseman Joe Corfman (Toledo) could not make the play. Edgington scored on the single to make the score 13-8, and Shaw struck out looking to finally end the inning. The Steam recorded nine hits and two walks in the inning, with Edgington and Freking each notching a pair of hits in the frame (Edgington also scored twice in the inning). Cincinnati faced four Stark County pitchers in the inning. After going hitless in the first three innings, the Steam went 13-for-18 with six doubles in the fourth and fifth innings. Ian Kadish (Marshall) picked up the win in relief for Cincinnati, hurling 3.2 innings with five strikeouts and three walks. Kadish yielded three hits and two runs to improve to 2-1 on the season. Ryan Martin (Michigan State) gave up two runs in 2.0 innings after Kadish, and Michael Schum (Wright State) closed the door in the ninth. Thomas struggled in the start for Cincinnati, giving up six earned runs on seven hits in just 2.1 innings. Thomas walked three and did not strike out a batter. Osborne (0-2) took the loss for Stark County (5-9), giving up four earned runs without retiring a batter. Jon Moore (Pitt-Johnstown) lasted 4.0 innings in the start, giving up six runs (five earned) on six hits. Freking led the Steam offensive attack with three hits, two runs scored, and two RBI. Jones doubled twice and drove in three, and Issler had two hits, three RBI, and a stolen base. Edgington and Thomas drove in two, and Shaw and Strausborger scored twice. Strausborger leads the league with 16 runs scored. Aaron Thompkins (Furman) went 4-for-6 with two RBI for the Terriers, and Grant McCoury (Elon) homered twice, drove in three, and scored three times. Ferrell scored three times and Tanner Coggins (Wabash) knocked in three. Cincinnati wasted no time getting on the board in game two. Strausborger cruised into second base to begin the game when Thompkins dropped his fly ball in right for an error. He promptly stole third and scored on Gschwind’s one-out sacrifice fly to give the Steam the early 1-0 lead. Gschwind’s sacrifice fly was his GLSCL-leading third and gave him six in his Steam career, tying him with Brandon Besl (Ohio) for the Steam all-time record. The Steam’s lead was short-lived, however, as the Terriers roughed up Thomas for four runs in the next half-inning. McCoury walked to lead off the inning and scored on a Ferrell’s double in the left-center field gap. Ferrell advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a single by Coggins. One out later, Thompkins hit a triple just out of the reach of a diving Strausborger to plate a run, and Corfman knocked a single to right field to score Thompkins and give the Terriers a 4-1 lead. Stark County plated two more runs in the third to extend the lead to 6-1 and knock Thomas out of the game. The Steam closed to within two at 6-4 in the fourth inning on four consecutive one-out doubles by Freking, Shaw, Jones, and Issler, the first of the season for each player. Cincinnati made use of the whole field in the process, as Freking’s double one-hopped the wall in left field, Shaw’s hit high off the wall in straightaway center field, Jones’ sailed over the right fielder’s head and off the wall, and Issler’s split the gap in left-center. The Terriers answered with two runs in the fifth off of Kadish, beginning with a long leadoff home run off the bat of McCoury, his second of the season (making him one of five GLSCL players with multiple home runs). Kadish then walked the next two batters and moved each up a base with a wild pitch. Coggins drove in his third run of the game with a ground ball to first to make the score 8-4, but Kadish prevented further damage by inducing Bogdewiecz to fly out to shallow center and striking out Thompkins to end the inning. The Steam added to their lead in the eighth with a run to make the score 14-8. Strausborger knocked his second triple of the day and scored on an Edgington sacrifice fly. McCoury smacked his second home run of the game in the eighth off of Martin, a two-run shot to close the gap to four, but the Terriers would get no closer. McCoury now ranks second in the GLSCL in home runs, trailing only Robby Kuzdale of Xenia. The Steam venture to the AIA Sports Complex for the second time in four games when they take on the Xenia Scouts Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. Cincinnati returns to Western Hills High School on Thursday for a doubleheader with the Lima Locos (doubleheader due to the June 16 rainout). First pitch of game one is scheduled for 5:05 p.m.
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