July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Fort starts fast, holds off dogs (04/01/08)
FRHS baseball
Fort starts fast, holds off dogs (04/01/08)
By By RAY COONEY-
CELINA, Ohio - Shane McKibben believes in being aggressive on the basepaths. After all, a team never knows how many more chances it will get.
That strategy worked out to perfection Monday.
The Fort Recovery High School baseball team forced the issue early to score three runs in the first inning and two more in the third before holding on for a 5-3 victory over the Celina Bulldogs despite going hitless over the course of the final four innings.
"Any time you can get on the board early in the game, it helps everybody settle down," said McKibben, who is beginning his second stint leading the Indians after coaching them from 1998 to 2000. "We made enough early plays on the bases. We hit the ball early in the game.
"Their number two pitcher did a nice job of coming in and throwing strikes. We didn't get anything going after him. We just made enough plays early in the game, and we made some defensive plays ... We just did enough."
The Indians (1-0) got started when No. 2 hitter Brady Kahlig drew a walk. Back-to-back singles by seniors Bobby Rammel and Clint Tobe brought Kahlig home with the first run of the season, and a Frank Thien fielder's choice scored Rammel.
Nate Keller followed with another walk, and then McKibben put his aggressive game plan to work.
With Derek Koester at the plate Thien strayed off second base, seemingly getting caught in no-man's land between second and third. But an overthrow allowed him to advance to third. Koester delivered an RBI single to left field to complete the three-run first.
When Rammel walked to leadoff the third inning, the Indians got aggressive again as the senior catcher took second base when a pitch squirted away from his counterpart, Chad Schumann. Tobe immediately delivered an RBI double, Fort Recovery's lone extra-base hit. A sacrifice bunt from Thien moved Tobe to third base, and Nate Keller's sacrifice fly pushed him across the plate.
"Basically I want to get on base and make things happen any way we can," said McKibben, who also ran a fake squeeze play in the game. "Early in the season until the bats come around you've got to be aggressive and make them make the plays. Today we made them throw the ball around a little bit. ... That's the way we're going to play it."
The Indians had just one runner on base - Kahlig with another walk - as they went hitless over the final three innings against Celina reliever Brent Riemesch. But their five-run lead held up.
"That's one thing that we expect out of Mr. Riemesch," said Celina coach Drew Braun. "He came in and kept them right there. We couldn't have asked for anything more. He gave us a shot to get back into the ball game."
The Bulldogs (0-1) scored once in the fourth inning, and had a runner on second base with one out and one run already across the plate in the fifth. But senior Curt Heitkamp came on in relief of Greg Kahlig and shut down the rally.
After giving up a walk to clean-up hitter Jeremy Kerr, Heitkamp got a fly ball out from Dustin Wood and a grounder to first by Shcumann to end the inning.
Celina had a chance in the sixth with two runners on and two outs, only to have Clint Tobe relieve Heitkamp and induce an inning-ending ground ball. The ground out by Darren Waterman kept John Bonvillian from coming to the plate with a chance to give the Bulldogs the lead.
"I would have loved it," said Braun of the possibility of getting his best hitter, who doubled in the fifth inning, up in the key situation. "But we didn't hit the ball like we have been. In our two scrimmages, we've really been stroking the ball. And sure, John's an all (Western Buckeye League) player, so he's a guy you want up in those situations without a doubt. It would have been nice, but I expect anybody on our team to produce there. That's one of the things we were lacking today. We just couldn't get that clutch base hit when we had somebody on second base."
Bonvillian led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a walk, and the Bulldogs had another opportunity as Kerr and Woods followed with singles to load the bases. Bonvillian scored on a fielder's choice, but Tobe struck out pinch hitter Kyle Trafzer and got a ground ball from Josh Leonhard to end the game.
Greg Kahlig picked up the win, giving up two runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings. Tobe allowed one run on one hit in 1 1/3 innings for the save while also leading the offense by going 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and a run. Rammel scored a pair of runs.
Bonvillian took the loss for Celina, giving up five runs - four earned - on four hits and four walks. He struck out three batters in three innings of work.
Brian Brockly had two hits and a run for the Bulldogs, and Woods also had a pair of hits. Bonvillian had an RBI double and also scored a run.[[In-content Ad]]
That strategy worked out to perfection Monday.
The Fort Recovery High School baseball team forced the issue early to score three runs in the first inning and two more in the third before holding on for a 5-3 victory over the Celina Bulldogs despite going hitless over the course of the final four innings.
"Any time you can get on the board early in the game, it helps everybody settle down," said McKibben, who is beginning his second stint leading the Indians after coaching them from 1998 to 2000. "We made enough early plays on the bases. We hit the ball early in the game.
"Their number two pitcher did a nice job of coming in and throwing strikes. We didn't get anything going after him. We just made enough plays early in the game, and we made some defensive plays ... We just did enough."
The Indians (1-0) got started when No. 2 hitter Brady Kahlig drew a walk. Back-to-back singles by seniors Bobby Rammel and Clint Tobe brought Kahlig home with the first run of the season, and a Frank Thien fielder's choice scored Rammel.
Nate Keller followed with another walk, and then McKibben put his aggressive game plan to work.
With Derek Koester at the plate Thien strayed off second base, seemingly getting caught in no-man's land between second and third. But an overthrow allowed him to advance to third. Koester delivered an RBI single to left field to complete the three-run first.
When Rammel walked to leadoff the third inning, the Indians got aggressive again as the senior catcher took second base when a pitch squirted away from his counterpart, Chad Schumann. Tobe immediately delivered an RBI double, Fort Recovery's lone extra-base hit. A sacrifice bunt from Thien moved Tobe to third base, and Nate Keller's sacrifice fly pushed him across the plate.
"Basically I want to get on base and make things happen any way we can," said McKibben, who also ran a fake squeeze play in the game. "Early in the season until the bats come around you've got to be aggressive and make them make the plays. Today we made them throw the ball around a little bit. ... That's the way we're going to play it."
The Indians had just one runner on base - Kahlig with another walk - as they went hitless over the final three innings against Celina reliever Brent Riemesch. But their five-run lead held up.
"That's one thing that we expect out of Mr. Riemesch," said Celina coach Drew Braun. "He came in and kept them right there. We couldn't have asked for anything more. He gave us a shot to get back into the ball game."
The Bulldogs (0-1) scored once in the fourth inning, and had a runner on second base with one out and one run already across the plate in the fifth. But senior Curt Heitkamp came on in relief of Greg Kahlig and shut down the rally.
After giving up a walk to clean-up hitter Jeremy Kerr, Heitkamp got a fly ball out from Dustin Wood and a grounder to first by Shcumann to end the inning.
Celina had a chance in the sixth with two runners on and two outs, only to have Clint Tobe relieve Heitkamp and induce an inning-ending ground ball. The ground out by Darren Waterman kept John Bonvillian from coming to the plate with a chance to give the Bulldogs the lead.
"I would have loved it," said Braun of the possibility of getting his best hitter, who doubled in the fifth inning, up in the key situation. "But we didn't hit the ball like we have been. In our two scrimmages, we've really been stroking the ball. And sure, John's an all (Western Buckeye League) player, so he's a guy you want up in those situations without a doubt. It would have been nice, but I expect anybody on our team to produce there. That's one of the things we were lacking today. We just couldn't get that clutch base hit when we had somebody on second base."
Bonvillian led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a walk, and the Bulldogs had another opportunity as Kerr and Woods followed with singles to load the bases. Bonvillian scored on a fielder's choice, but Tobe struck out pinch hitter Kyle Trafzer and got a ground ball from Josh Leonhard to end the game.
Greg Kahlig picked up the win, giving up two runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings. Tobe allowed one run on one hit in 1 1/3 innings for the save while also leading the offense by going 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and a run. Rammel scored a pair of runs.
Bonvillian took the loss for Celina, giving up five runs - four earned - on four hits and four walks. He struck out three batters in three innings of work.
Brian Brockly had two hits and a run for the Bulldogs, and Woods also had a pair of hits. Bonvillian had an RBI double and also scored a run.[[In-content Ad]]
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