BASEBALL: St. Paul rallies past Fremont St. Joseph

FREMONT — Down to its final five outs, the St. Paul baseball team rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the top of the sixth inning with five runs en route to an 8-3 win in a non-conference game on Saturday that could be a potential tournament preview. With the win, the Flyers improved to 10-3 overall ahead of a week that will feature four Firelands Conference games. "We battled some adversity early and just kind of hung around until we could find the holes offensively," St. Paul coach Aaron Fries said. "The kids stayed patient and finally in the sixth we strung together some real good at-bats and the line drives were finding gaps." The Crimson Streaks (9-4) scored two runs in the bottom of the first, and starting pitcher Clay Stull kept the Flyers scoreless through the first three innings. Tyler Perkins doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch, then scored on an RBI single from Jaycob Stanley to bring St. Paul within 2-1 after four innings. The Streaks added one more run in the bottom of the fifth off St. Paul starter Eli Fisher, but a one-out single by Luke Blum in the top of the sixth started a big rally. Thomas Bocock followed with a single, Stanley was then hit by a pitch, as was Drew Kuhnle with the bases loaded to bring in a run for a 3-2 deficit. Adam Baker then delivered a pinch-hit, two-run single to put the Flyers ahead 4-3. The next batter, Scotty Adelman did the same thing with a two-run single to left to put St. Paul ahead 6-3. In the top of the seventh, Bocock drew a two-out walk, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Stanley. After stealing second and third, Stanley then scored on a throwing error to give the Flyers an 8-3 lead. Fisher allowed three earned runs on four hits with three strikeouts and three walks in five innings to earn the pitching win. Blum threw two scoreless innings of relief, striking out two with one walk and one hit allowed. "He battled hard on the mound and our defense made plays behind him," Fries said of Fisher. "They were able to get runners on, but Eli was doing just enough to keep them off the board in those middle innings." Stanley finished 3 for 3 with two RBIs and two runs scored to pace the offense. St. Paul (4-0 FC) will visit New London on Monday and host the Wildcats on Tuesday. The Flyers then host Western Reserve on Thursday and visit the Roughriders on Friday. "This is a nice win versus a very good SJCC team," Fries said. "It gives us some added confidence going into a big week of conference games." St. Paul 000 105 2 — 8 9 0 F. SJCC 200 010 0 — 3 5 2 WP: Fisher; LP: Stull 2B: (SP) Blum; (SJ) Michael Willard 6, Bucyrus 2 Willard 10, Bucyrus 1 BUCYRUS — The Crimson Flashes improved to 4-10 overall after sweeping a non-league doubleheader over the host Redmen on Saturday. In a 6-2 win in Game 1, Willard's Dylan Thompson pitched a complete game, allowing two earned runs on seven hits with 12 strikeouts and one walk. Thompson was also 2 for 3 with an RBI and two runs scored for the Flashes, while Jake Cok added two hits. Nick Woodlock doubled and drove in a run, while Logan Lofland singled and drove in a run. In a 10-1 win in Game 2, Ethan Rodriguez was 2 for 3 with an RBI and Cooper Wiers was 2 for 3 with a double. Cok and Ashton Ames each singled and drove in a run. Trey Mock pitched the first five innings for the win. He allowed an unearned run on one hit with four strikeouts and two walks. Game 1 Willard 000 402 0 — 6 9 1 Bucyrus 000 020 0 — 2 7 2 WP: Thompson; LP: Lewis 2B: (W) Rodriguez, Woodlock; (B) Scott, Bayless Game 2 Willard 320 111 2 — 10 7 2 Bucyrus 010 000 0 — 1 3 5 WP: Mock; LP: Powell 2B: (W) Cooper Wiers Margaretta 4, Edison 1 CASTALIA — The Chargers fell to 7-4 with Saturday's loss to the host Polar Bears. The two are both SBC Bay Division opponents, but the game was added as an additional non-league game for both teams. On Wednesday, the Chargers claimed a 2-0 win over the Bears in league play, also in Castalia. In Saturday's loss, Noah Smith doubled and drove in Edison's only run in the top of the seventh. Dominic Dymond and Bryce Michaelis each added singles. Edison 000 000 1 — 1 3 5 Margaretta 120 010 x — 4 5 3 WP: Polomo; LP: Fox 2B: (E) N. Smith; (M) Polomo SMCC 8, Western Reserve 3 COLLINS — The Roughriders fell to the visiting Panthers after a five-run top of fifth gave SMCC the lead for good on Saturday in non-league action. In the loss, Kaden Boswell was 2 for 3 with a double, and Chris Buchanan singled and drove in a run. Logan Wiegel had the fourth hit for Western (1-12). St. Mary CC 001 052 0 — 8 13 1 W. Reserve 000 100 2 — 3 4 1 WP: N/A; LP: Muenz 2B: (WR) Boswell