BASEBALL: St. Paul alone in first after run-rule win

NORWALK — The St. Paul baseball team put up a crooked number in each of the first four innings and scored in all six innings en route to a 14-4 win over visiting New London in a Firelands Conference game on Tuesday at Norwalk Area Contractors Park. With the win, the Flyers improved to 12-3 overall and 6-0 in the FC. With Plymouth's loss at South Central, the Flyers are alone in first place entering Thursday's game vs. Western Reserve (3-12, 2-3). "Really happy with the way our offense performed tonight," St. Paul head coach Aaron Fries said. "Fourteen hits is a nice number, especially after Monday (4-1 win on four hits) were tough to come by." After New London (3-6, 2-4) scored an unearned run on an error in the top of the first, the Flyers responded with three runs in the first and second innings to take a 6-1 lead. Scotty Adelman reached on an error and Adam Baker followed with a single — then starting pitcher Tyler Perkins hit a sacrifice fly to score Adelman. Luke Blum followed with an RBI double, then scored on a bases loaded walk by Kade Maxwell to put St. Paul ahead 3-1. Adelman walked and Baker singled again to lead off the bottom of the second, then both runners moved up on a balk and a steal. Eli Fisher followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-1, then Blum hit an RBI double and came around to score on a fielding error off a ball hit by Thomas Bocock for the 6-1 lead. "That was nice to see, since we have struggled to get runs early this season," Fries said. New London starting pitcher Logan Girton singled and scored on an RBI groundout by Jacob Shaver to make it 6-2, but St. Paul came back with four runs in the bottom of the third. Jaycob Stanley singled and stole second, then scored on an RBI single by Adelman. Baker followed with his third straight single, and Fisher walked to load the bases with no outs. Perkins then singled to right to score two runs, and Blum followed with an RBI single that extended the lead to 10-2. New London got two back in the top of the fourth. Grant Heileman walked and Hayden Liss singled to start the inning, and Heileman scored on an error after a strikeout. Carter Downs then followed with a single to score Liss for a 10-4 deficit, but Perkins got the next two outs to end the threat. Bocock walked and scored on a two-base error hit off the bat of Stanley, then Drew Kuhnle reached on a fielder's choice and scored on an RBI single by Adelman to extend the St. Paul lead to 12-4 through four innings. With two outs in the fifth, Blum singled and scored on an RBI base hit from Stanley to make it 13-4, then the game ended in the bottom of the sixth by run rule. Adelman singled and Baker walked, and Adelman stole two bases — then scored on a balk call for the winning run. Adelman finished 3 for 4 with two RBIs and scored four runs to pace St. Paul, while Blum was 4 for 4 with two doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored. Baker was 3 for 3 with an RBI and scored all three times he reached, while Perkins was 2 for 3 with three RBIs and Stanley was 2 for 3 with one RBI. On the mound, Perkins allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits with seven strikeouts and three walks in six innings. "Tyler was steady on the mound," Fries said. "He was really efficient, only needing 81 pitches." Also registering hits for the Wildcats included Cody Bentley and Carter Eibel. New London 101 200 — 4 5 3 St. Paul 334 211 — 14 14 3 WP: Perkins; LP: Girton 2B: (SP) Blum 2 South Central 4, Plymouth 3 GREENWICH — The Trojans scored one run each in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings to slip past the Big Red in a key FC matchup on Tuesday. South Central (6-8, 4-2) got a leadoff triple by Carson Music to lead off the sixth inning, but a groundout off pitcher Zeth Goth held Music at third. But David Lamoreaux flew out deep enough to center field, allowing Music to tag up and tie the game at 3-3 on the sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the seventh, Isaac Rapp led off with a single, and Shane Vanderpool, pinch running for Rapp, advanced to second when Gunner Ray reached on an error while putting down a sacrifice bunt. Sam Seidel singled to load the bases, then Karl Ferber followed up with an infield single that scored Vanderpool for the winning run. Music finished 2 for 3 and scored twice for the Trojans. Eric Sanders also added a hit. On the mound, Ferber pitched seven strong innings for the win. He allowed three runs (one earned) on three hits with nine strikeouts and one walk. For the Big Red (7-5, 5-1), Goth allowed four runs (one earned) on six hits with seven strikeouts and four walks in six innings. Cole Wentz, Goth and Clayton Miller had the three hits, with Wentz and Welch adding RBIs. Plymouth 102 000 0 — 3 3 2 S. Central 000 201 1 — 4 6 3 WP: Ferber; LP: Goth 3B: (SC) Music Mapleton 5, Monroeville 0 ORANGE TWP. — The Eagles were limited to a pair of singles by Meritt Key and Austin Nichols off pitcher Kaleb Stafford in Monday's FC loss to the host Mounties. Key also reached base with a walk, as did Duncan Steward. On the mound, Key pitched six innings and allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits with two strikeouts and four walks. Monroeville 000 000 0 — 0 2 1 Mapleton 011 120 x — 5 7 1 WP: Stafford; LP: Key