March 31, 2015 at 5:37 p.m.
Tribe rallies for 7-3 win
Fort Recovery scores four straight runs in season-opening victory
Tribe rallies for 7-3 win
FORT RECOVERY — The Indians didn’t panic when their two-run advantage vanished in the third inning.
They simply took the lead back three frames later.
The Fort Recovery High School baseball team scored a pair of runs in the fifth inning Monday for a 4-3 advantage and added three insurance runs in the sixth for a 7-3 victory over the Celina Bulldogs in the season opener for both teams.
“It was a good comeback win,” said FRHS coach Jerry Kaup, whose team travels to Van Wert to take on the Lincolnview Lancers at 5 p.m. tonight. “I think we started a little nervous. We had some communication errors early in the outfield and in the infield a couple of times.
“We’ll try to clean those up.”
Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning, FRHS senior Mitch Stammen hit an RBI single through the right side, scoring Chase Bruns to knot the score at three apiece. Two batters later with runners at first and second, Jacob Homan hit into a fielder’s choice, and a throwing error by Celina first baseman Chandler Kimmel allowed Stammen to plate the go-ahead run.
Stammen had two of the Indians’ (1-0) six hits and a stolen base. He set Fort Recovery’s single-season record for stolen bases in a season last year with 27.
“He’s a solid leadoff hitter,” Kaup said. “He has good power and speed. He certainly gives us a lot of options with his skills and abilities.”
But the Tribe wasn’t satisfied with a one-run lead, tacking on three more an inning later.
Kyle Schroer and Nate Lochtefeld reached on a hit and a walk, and freshman Cade Wendel reached on a bunt for his first career base hit, chasing Celina pitcher Jimmy Luebke from the game.
“I don’t think he really pitched that well,” said Celina coach Andy Mikesell, whose team fell to 0-1. Luebke gave up four runs — three earned — on three hits and five walks.
They simply took the lead back three frames later.
The Fort Recovery High School baseball team scored a pair of runs in the fifth inning Monday for a 4-3 advantage and added three insurance runs in the sixth for a 7-3 victory over the Celina Bulldogs in the season opener for both teams.
“It was a good comeback win,” said FRHS coach Jerry Kaup, whose team travels to Van Wert to take on the Lincolnview Lancers at 5 p.m. tonight. “I think we started a little nervous. We had some communication errors early in the outfield and in the infield a couple of times.
“We’ll try to clean those up.”
Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning, FRHS senior Mitch Stammen hit an RBI single through the right side, scoring Chase Bruns to knot the score at three apiece. Two batters later with runners at first and second, Jacob Homan hit into a fielder’s choice, and a throwing error by Celina first baseman Chandler Kimmel allowed Stammen to plate the go-ahead run.
Stammen had two of the Indians’ (1-0) six hits and a stolen base. He set Fort Recovery’s single-season record for stolen bases in a season last year with 27.
“He’s a solid leadoff hitter,” Kaup said. “He has good power and speed. He certainly gives us a lot of options with his skills and abilities.”
But the Tribe wasn’t satisfied with a one-run lead, tacking on three more an inning later.
Kyle Schroer and Nate Lochtefeld reached on a hit and a walk, and freshman Cade Wendel reached on a bunt for his first career base hit, chasing Celina pitcher Jimmy Luebke from the game.
“I don’t think he really pitched that well,” said Celina coach Andy Mikesell, whose team fell to 0-1. Luebke gave up four runs — three earned — on three hits and five walks.
“He walked too many hitters to lead off innings, a lot of times on four straight balls. He’s a rhythm kind of guy, you force him to go from the stretch it can break up his rhythm a little bit.”
With Shawn Rose in for relief, Bruns jumped on his first pitch for an RBI sacrifice fly to center field for a 5-3 lead.
Cole Wendel drove in Lochtefeld two batters later, and Jacob Homan took a pitch off the rib cage with bases loaded to plate the game’s final run.
Homan, who played with the Bulldogs before transferring to Fort Recovery, had a hit and two RBIs from the cleanup spot against his former team.
“He’s certainly made it easier … we lost a lot to graduation last year,” Kaup said. “The addition of Jacob Homan in our lineup is going to help ease some of those pains, there is no question.”
And after Fort Recovery starter Jackson Hobbs — he recorded the win in 6 1/3 innings of work while giving up three runs on nine hits — got yanked in the top of the seventh, Homan came in to shut the door on Celina.
“I feel like when I’m on the mound, I’m in control,” said Hobbs, who tried to tell Kaup to stay in the dugout rather than taking him out after the junior had hit back-to-back batters. “I wanted to stay out there. I knew I threw over 100 pitches, but I want to win the game and I want to compete.
“I (think) I give this team a pretty good chance to win when I’m out there.”
The Indians wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, plating a pair of runs in the top of the first on consecutive RBI singles by Derek Backs and Homan.
Celina batted around in the third, tying the game on a two-run double to the left field gap by Justin Keeling, who came around to score on a fielder’s choice three batters later.
“We just got a little complacent,” Mikesell said. “For some reason we felt comfortable with the lead. We shouldn’t have, obviously.”
With Shawn Rose in for relief, Bruns jumped on his first pitch for an RBI sacrifice fly to center field for a 5-3 lead.
Cole Wendel drove in Lochtefeld two batters later, and Jacob Homan took a pitch off the rib cage with bases loaded to plate the game’s final run.
Homan, who played with the Bulldogs before transferring to Fort Recovery, had a hit and two RBIs from the cleanup spot against his former team.
“He’s certainly made it easier … we lost a lot to graduation last year,” Kaup said. “The addition of Jacob Homan in our lineup is going to help ease some of those pains, there is no question.”
And after Fort Recovery starter Jackson Hobbs — he recorded the win in 6 1/3 innings of work while giving up three runs on nine hits — got yanked in the top of the seventh, Homan came in to shut the door on Celina.
“I feel like when I’m on the mound, I’m in control,” said Hobbs, who tried to tell Kaup to stay in the dugout rather than taking him out after the junior had hit back-to-back batters. “I wanted to stay out there. I knew I threw over 100 pitches, but I want to win the game and I want to compete.
“I (think) I give this team a pretty good chance to win when I’m out there.”
The Indians wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, plating a pair of runs in the top of the first on consecutive RBI singles by Derek Backs and Homan.
Celina batted around in the third, tying the game on a two-run double to the left field gap by Justin Keeling, who came around to score on a fielder’s choice three batters later.
“We just got a little complacent,” Mikesell said. “For some reason we felt comfortable with the lead. We shouldn’t have, obviously.”
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