Tribe falls in extras to St. Henry

ST. HENRY, Ohio — Pitchers for both teams made few mistakes, racking up a total of 24 strikeouts.
But offensively, the Redskins were simply better at capitalizing on their chances.
St. Henry hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th inning Thursday to defeat the Fort Recovery High School baseball team 3-2 and continue its stand atop the Midwest Athletic Conference standings.
“It is one of those games where you would like to play it over,” said Jerry Kaup, Fort Recovery’s coach. “You think you could make a different move that could make a difference, but you only get one chance.
“We didn’t get it done.”
Chase Bruns — he came in to pitch the eighth after starter Nick Thwaits gave way to Jackson Hobbs in the seventh — issued a leadoff walk to Nathan Lefeld in the 11th inning, marking the end of his day. Sophomore Reese Rogers then came in to pitch, and Lefeld moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Rogers struck out Jason Evers for the second out to bring Josh Osterholt to the plate.
The senior was 0-for-4 with a sac bunt to that point, but he came through when he got another chance to put the game away.
“Just one batter before I turned to the team and said someone has to step up,” St. Henry coach Roger Dorner said. “We needed a senior to step up and that’s what he did. He was a little frustrated early in the game (but) he kept his cool.”
Osterholt ripped Rogers’ 1-1 offering into the outfield between a drawn-in Will Homan in center field and Thwaits in right to drive in the game-winning run. His teammates rushed out of the dugout and mobbed him near first base.
“It was a great day for a senior, something he’ll remember forever,” Dorner said. “And it kept us in the running for a chance at a three-peat in the MAC.”
After seeing its 2-1 lead vanish in the top of the sixth inning, Fort Recovery (15-7, 5-3 MAC) had chances in extra innings but was unable to score the go-ahead run.
In the top of the eighth inning, Thwaits drew a one-out walk, but was doubled off at second base to end the inning after Ryan Luttmer made a sliding catch in center field for the second out. One inning later, pinch runner Davis Will was picked off by Redskin reliever Parker Link to end the frame.
In the 10th inning, Ben Homan reached on an error, was sacrificed to second and reached third on a fielder’s choice. The sophomore couldn’t go the remaining 90 feet to the plate as Thwaits went down on strikes.
Cade Wendel drew a leadoff walk to start the 11th, but was doubled off at second after he rounded the base too far following a sacrifice bunt from Hobbs.
“Two outstanding teams fighting it out until the bitter end,” Dorner said. “It is amazing how many numerous opportunities both teams had to win the game.
“There were huge plays made by both teams … I can’t say I expected an 11-inning game today, but I expected it to be a one-run decision. That’s what it was and fortunately we came out on the top end.”
The Redskins (13-5, 7-1 MAC) had their chances in the home half of the seventh, and every subsequent inning, but the Tribe defense kept them off the scoreboard.
With one out and bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, Link hit a dribbler back to Hobbs for an inning-ending double play.
Bruns came in to pitch the eighth, and with one out he snagged a liner off the bat of Lefeld and doubled off Conner Bruggeman at second for another inning-ending twin killing.
St. Henry had runners on base in both the ninth and 10th innings as well, but couldn’t score the game-winner.
It was a pitcher’s dual from the start, with flamethrower Thwaits battling St. Henry’s ace, Mitchel Stammen. They combined to strike out 18 batters, with Stammen accounting for 11 of them as the Indians fanned 13 times in all.
“You’ve got two of the best pitchers in the area, I think,” Dorner said.
Thwaits did most of his work with his fastball, while Stammen had to rely on his offspeed pitches because he couldn’t locate the heater.
Neither starting pitcher factored into the decision. Link came in to pitch the eighth for St. Henry. He didn’t allow a hit, struck out two and walked three to earn the win in four scoreless innings of relief.
Bruns was saddled with the loss. He allowed one earned run on one hit, fanned three and walked three.
“I would have liked to see us put the ball in play more,” Kaup said. The Indians managed just three hits. “The most disappointing thing was the strikeouts. We didn’t get the ball in play enough.”