Buddha bomb (05/01/06)

MINSTER, Ohio — The Indians got the party started Friday evening with promenade in Fort Recovery. It continued with dinner and dancing in St. Henry and kept right on rolling through Saturday afternoon with a big baseball victory in Minster.

Steve Trobridge was king of the Tribe offense, hitting a home run in a seven-run first inning as the Fort Recovery baseball team drilled the Waynesfield-Goshen Tigers 15-5 in five innings in sectional opening action.

“I’m proud of the guys for being up for a game ... our guys are always ready to play,” said FRHS coach Aaron Vaughn, noting the questions about how his squad would respond playing just 13 hours after the conclusion of prom. “We have some kids with good heads on their shoulders.”

The Indians gave up an unearned run in the top of the first inning, but went up 4-0 in the bottom before Trobrdige came up with two on and two out. The Indian senior turned on an eye-high fastball, crushing it to the orange playground slide beyond the left-field fence.

Trobridge added a two-run double to right field in the second inning as Fort Recovery sent nine batters to the plate and scored four times. He was hit by a pitch in the fourth before Brad Fortkamp entered the game for him and scored a run.

The designated hitter was also the most vocal Indian, leading his team both when they were at the bat and in the field.

Vaughn, who had been unhappy with the lack of enthusiasm coming from his dugout at times this season, had asked for someone to step in and take control.

“Thursday coach talked about someone needing to take charge for the tournament,” said Trobridge — affectionately referred to by his teammates as “Buddha” — who totaled five RBIs.

“Being a senior I figured I’d try to take it upon myself to try to spark the team ...

“(The home run) felt great. He threw it right up there for me. I pulled it and went with it. It was awesome.”

Now Fort Recovery (9-8) moves on to the sectional championship to play the top-seeded host Minster Wildcats Saturday at noon. It has not won a sectional title since the tournament was played at St. Henry in 2001.

The Tribe offense never let up against the Tigers, posting two runs each in the third and fourth innings.

Fellow senior Chris Galdeen followed Trobridge by going 3-for-4 with a double, three runs, two RBIs and a stolen base. Curt Heitkamp had two hits, two runs and two RBIs, and Kevin Schoenherr scored three times.

Waynesfield-Goshen left the door open for big Indian innings because of repeated errors, including three in the first inning.

Also in the first, Clint Tobe put down what should have been a sacrifice bunt with runners on first and second. Instead, pitcher Cody Sackinger fielded it and tried to go to third base, but third baseman Nick Shaner was nowhere to be found.

Several Tribe base runners advanced easily as at least three throws to second-base to try to pick off runners went scooting into center field.

Twelve of Fort Recovery’s 15 runs were unearned.

“We had a couple of mental errors early that basically set the tone for the beginning of the game,” said Tiger coach Wayne Schneider, whose team fell to 1-13. “I was proud of the boys because they didn’t give up ... There’s not a lot to say.

“Fort Recovery’s a good team. The bottom line is we’re not there yet. We’ve got to get better.”

Kevin Schoenherr earned the victory, giving up one unearned run on one hit in three innings. He struck out six and did not walk a batter.

Like Waynesfield-Goshen, the Indians had some fielding issues as four of the Tigers’ five runs were of the unearned variety. The Tribe made seven errors, something Vaughn knows cannot happen against in the sectional championship.

“We can’t come in against a team like Minster and do that, and we know because we did that against Minster the last time we played them,” he said in reference to his team’s 9-4 loss to the Wildcats April 19. “If you make routine plays, you give yourself a chance. ... if you don’t make routine plays, you’re not going to win.”[[In-content Ad]]