BASEBALL: Flyers survive Mapleton in wild win

ORANGE TWP. — Wild doesn't even begin to cover it. The St. Paul baseball team stayed unbeaten and alone in first place in the Firelands Conference on Tuesday — but it took outlasting host Mapleton, 13-10, in eight innings in a game that featured 23 runs on 35 hits. The Flyers (15-3, 9-0) coughed up an 8-3 lead in the fifth inning, then trailed 9-8 in the top of the seventh while down to their final strike. But then St. Paul took the lead, only for the Mounties (8-8, 5-3) to respond and tie the game again to force extra innings, where the Flyers finally pulled away for good. "What a great victory," St. Paul head coach Aaron Fries said. "This was the first time all year where we jumped out to an early lead only to give it up and fall behind." With two outs and two strikes and Jaycob Stanley standing on third base as the result of a fielder's choice and an error — and Thomas Bocock on first base after a single — Kaden Maxwell delivered. First, Stanley scored on an error by the Mapleton catcher, then Maxwell's line drive single to centerfield scored Bocock for a 10-9 lead. But the Mounties got a leadoff single in the seventh to start a rally. With two outs, a second single brought in another run, but Luke Blum, on in relief for Tyler Perkins, induced a ground out to send the game to the eighth inning. After Mapleton ace Kaleb Stafford endured the Flyers' barrage of eight runs in three innings, he righted the ship and went the first seven innings to keep his team in the game. But at the pitch limit, the Mounties brought in a new pitcher for the eight, and jumped on him immediately. Scotty Adelman singled and stole second, then advanced to third on a single by Adam Baker. Eli Fisher then hit a bunt single toward first to score Adelman, and Baker scored on a wild pitch for a 12-10 lead. Fisher then scored on a wild pitch moments later for the 13-10 lead, and Blum struck out two and got a flyball out around two strikeouts to close the door on the win. "I knew we were going to have our hands full," Fries said. "We were facing a pretty good pitcher, and that is the best lineup we have seen all year. They can really pound the ball. Their No. 8 hitter hit a three-run homer. That is not something you see every day." St. Paul started the game with three straight singles by Adelman, Baker and Fisher that scored two runs. Blum then singled in Fisher for the third run, and Maxwell did the same to score Blum for a 4-0 lead. The Flyers did the same thing in the top of the third. Blum, Stanley and Bocock hit consecutive singles to load the bases, then Maxwell doubled to clear the bases and drive in three runs. Kole Maxwell then drove in Kaden on a sacrifice bunt to extend the lead to 8-3. The Mounties then scored six runs over the next three innings to take the lead and set up the wild final two innings. Kaden Maxwell was 3 for 5 with five RBIs, while Baker was 4 for 5 with an RBI and Adelman was 3 for 5 and scored twice. Fisher, Blum, Stanley and Bocock each added two hits. Blum picked up the win with 3 1/3 innings of relief. He allowed two runs on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks. Perkins allowed eight runs (seven earned) on 11 hits with four strikeouts and four walks in 4 2/3 innings. The two teams play again on Wednesday at Contractors Park in Norwalk. "These kids continue to show their resiliency as we stayed confident all the way through," Fries said. "There were times when these kids could have easily lost confidence but they didn't. They kept grinding and we were able to escape with a victory." St. Paul 404 000 2 3 — 13 19 1 Mapleton 120 231 1 0 — 10 16 4 WP: Blum; LP: Vermilya 2B: (SP) Baker, Ka. Maxwell; (M) Cline; 3B: (M) Wrobleski; HR: (M) Sword So. Central 11, W. Reserve 4 GREENWICH — The Trojans scored seven runs over the second and third innings to distance themselves from the visiting Roughriders on Tuesday for an FC win. Sam Seidel was 2 for 3 with a double, a triple, two RBIs and three runs scored for South Central (8-8, 6-3). Karl Ferber doubled and drove in three runs, while Carson Music was 2 for 4, and Shane Vanderpool singled and drove in two. Kayden Hauler doubled and scored twice and Jackson McCormack tripled and scored twice. On the mound, Ferber went six innings for the win. He allowed four runs (two earned) on nine hits with six strikeouts and one walk. Vanderpool pitched a scoreless seventh. For Western, Carson Roe doubled and scored twice, while Jude Muenz singled and drove in three runs. Muenz allowed five earned runs on eight hits with eight strikeouts and three walks in five innings on the mound, while Muck Grandy also had two hits for the 'Riders, who fell to 4-15 overall and 2-6 in the FC. W. Reserve 200 011 0 — 4 9 4 So. Central 143 111 x — 11 9 4 WP: Ferber; LP: Muenz 2B: (WR) Roe 2; (SC) Ferber, Hauler, Wheeler; 3B: (SC) Seidel, McCormack Plymouth 15, New London 5 PLYMOUTH — The Big Red scored 12 runs over the fourth and fifth innings to turn a 2-1 deficit into a rout win in six innings on Tuesday against the visiting Wildcats. With the win, Plymouth improved to 10-5 overall and 8-1 in the FC, which kept it one game behind St. Paul in the standings. The 'Cats fell to 3-8 overall and 2-7 in the FC. In Tuesday's victory, Zach Hamman was 3 for 3 with a triple, four RBIs and scored four runs. Cole Wentz was 3 for 5 with an RBI and scored twice, while Zeth Goth was 2 for 4 with three RBIs and Trace McVeigh was 2 for 4 with a triple and two RBIs. On the mound, Wentz allowed four runs (two earned) on eight hits with six strikeouts and four walks in 4 2/3 innings to earn the win. Josh Beebe allowed one run on one hit over the final 1 1/3 innings. For New London, Jacob Shaver was 4 for 4 with a home run and four runs scored. Logan Wallace was 2 for 3 with an RBI and Grant Heileman was 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI. New London 101 021 — 5 9 1 Plymouth 001 572 — 15 14 1 WP: Wentz; LP: Girton 2B: (NL) Heileman; (P) L. Hamann; 3B: (P) Z. Hamman, McVey; HR: (NL) Shaver Crestview 22, Monroeville 3 OLIVESBURG — The Eagles fell to 0-13 overall and 0-8 in the FC with Tuesday's loss to the Cougars. Willard 8, Buckeye Central 7 WILLARD — Dylan Thompson had a huge day for the Crimson Flashes as they improved to 5-14 overall with Tuesday's non-league win over the Bucks. Thompson finished 3 for 4 — all three hits were doubles — with three RBIs and three runs scored. Isaac Robinson was 2 for 4 with two RBIs and Jake Cok was 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI. Ethan Rodriguez was 2 for 5 with a double and an RBI, while Austin Adelman was 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI. On the mound, Thompson pitched the first five innings for the win. He allowed five runs (four earned) on eight this with five strikeouts and one walk. Cooper Wiers allowed two unearned runs with two strikeouts in the sixth and Trey Mock pitched a scoreless seventh, allowing one hit. B. Central 130 012 0 — 7 9 3 Willard 143 000 x — 8 14 4 WP: Thompson; LP: Green 2B: (BC) Kanney; (W) Thompson 3, Adelman, Cok, E. Rodriguez