Klenke’s Ks

FORT RECOVERY — After pitching a gem of a game through the first six innings, Tribe coach Kevin Eyink was prepared to send Dylan Klenke back out onto the mound for the seventh inning.

It ended up not being needed as the Indians’ offense finished the Panthers off in the sixth inning.

Klenke had a career night on the mound for the Fort Recovery High School baseball team, striking out 12 Parkway Panthers before Alex Gaerke walked the game off for a 10-0 victory in the sixth inning on Monday.

“That’s what we were hoping to happen,” Eyink said. “Dylan’s been doing a nice job so we gave him another shot and he pitched extremely well. He threw a ton of strikes with good command and good pace, so he did a great job.

“Hitting wise, that’s what we were hoping to do. That’s what we need to be doing going into the final weeks here.”

Klenke started the game with a small hiccup against Perry Schwieterman. The FRHS junior worked a 2-2 count on the Parkway first baseman before giving up a single through the left side of the infield.

Klenke immediately focused back in to strike out Brayden Bruns and Jacoby Triplett in three pitches each. It appeared as if Klenke would put a second runner on base as he fell behind 3-1 against Lennox Boroff. He got Boroff to swing at the fifth pitch of the at bat before he ended the inning with a low fastball that caught Boroff looking.

“I felt like (giving up the leadoff single) put the nerves away,” Klenke said. “Then I could breathe and go from there.”

Klenke continued to roll in the second inning, striking out the side a second time. He walked Schweiterman to start the third inning, but a passed ball rebounded off the backstop back to Brody Hart, allowing the catcher to gun him down at second base. He finished the inning with two more strikeouts.

Fort Recovery’s starter hit the first batter of the fourth inning before getting a pair of outs on balls hit to Caden  Grisez at third base. The inning ended with Klenke’s ninth strikeout of the day.

He made quick work of the fight inning with a swinging bunt that Hart fielded and fired to first base, a flyout to Mason Diller in right field and a 10th strikeout.

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Fort Recovery baseball vs. Parkway (5/5/2025)

Klenke wrapped up his performance with two more strikeouts and a ball hit back at him, which he knocked down before tossing to Caden Homan at first base.

Klenke’s final line included 12 strikeouts and just one hit over the six innings of work. He allowed three base runners in total, none of which made it past second base, to earn the win.

“My curveball and some changeups here and there were (working well),” Klenke said. “I was just trying to change the locations I pitched. Sometimes I’d try to throw the curveball outside, sometimes inside or spike it even.”

The Indians (11-5, 3-4 Midwest Athletic Conference) gave Klenke some early run support as three crossed in the first inning and a fourth reached home plate in the second.

Reece Wendel reached base on an infield single, followed by a double from Diller. While Grisez didn’t manage to reach base, his groundout drove Wendel home. Gaerke doubled to deep center field to plate Diller, and made his way around the bases on a passed ball and a dropped third strike.

FRHS scored the fourth run on the Panthers (6-12, 1-7 MAC) on a single from Wendel.

“It helped out with the whole game and tore them down in the beginning,” said Gaerke, who led the Indians with three RBIs. “We kind of took it off (in the middle) but then we put it back on them at the end and it felt great.”

The Tribe piled on six more runs in the sixth inning to end the game early. After an initial flyout, the next eight Indians reached base.

Klenke helped his own cause with a two-RBI single, Wendel brought one home on a double and Grisez walked with the bases loaded to account for the first four runs of the inning.

With the bases loaded, Gaerke poked a single between the third baseman and the shortstop drive in Wendel and Diller to walk off the game.

Seven of the Indians in the starting lineup managed to either score a run or drive one in. One of the two who didn’t, reached base before Cody Klenke pinch ran and made his way around to score.

“We’ve kind of been missing that,” Eyink said. “The top of the order has been getting on and scoring runs, but the bottom of the order, we’ve had guys on and are not getting them in. So,  it was good to see everyone contribute today.”