Edison rallies past St. Paul

MILAN — Two of the area's most consistent high school baseball programs didn't disappoint on Saturday. Played in wet, near-freezing temperatures, the state-ranked Chargers rallied from a 4-2 deficit in the fourth inning, then broke a tie with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning for a 7-4 win over visiting St. Paul in a non-league matchup. Edison — ranked No. 4 in the first Division III state coaches poll last week — improved to 5-2 overall with the win. The Flyers saw their five-game win streak stopped and fell to 5-2. "It was good to see us be able to make a late-inning comeback," Edison head coach Sean Hoover said. "We left runners in scoring position earlier in the game and didn't score, but this time Dom (Dymond), Hayden (Fry), and Max (Hoover) came through with some big hits with runners in scoring position." St. Paul quickly jumped out ahead on Saturday, scoring a run in the top of the first inning. Eli Fisher and Thomas Bocock led off the game with back-to-back singles, then Luke Blum drew a walk off Blake Simon to load the bases with nobody out. Alex Weaver then lined a fielder's choice that saw Bocock forced out at third, but Fisher scored for the 1-0 lead. Limiting the damage, Simon was able to get a strikeout and a flyout off the bats of Kaden Maxwell and Jaycob Stanley to end the inning. The Flyers then struck for three runs in the top of the second to open up a 4-0 lead. Jacob Bocock singled to left and Drew Kuhnle was hit by a pitch to again put two runners on base quickly. Starting pitcher Kole Maxwell then doubled on a line drive to centerfield to score Bocock and advance Kuhnle to third. Fisher then grounded out to first, but it was deep enough in the hole to score Kuhnle and advance Maxwell to third for a 3-0 lead. Thomas Bocock then followed with a ground ball out to short, which allowed Kole Maxwell to score and extend the lead to 4-0. The Chargers started their comeback in the bottom of the third. Thomas Simon hit a one-out single to left, and with two outs, Dominic Dymond singled to left. Noah Smith drew a walk to load the bases with two outs, and with two strikes, Hayden Fry hit a 1-2 pitch to left for a two-run double to cut the deficit in half at 4-2. After a scoreless fourth inning from both teams, Edison tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. With Kuhnle on in relief, Thomas Simon singled and Clint Finnen was hit by a pitch. Dymond then singled to centerfield to score Simon, and a sacrifice fly to right off the bat of Fry allowed Finnen to score and tie the game at 4-4. In the bottom of the sixth, Brady Barker was hit by a pitch and Bryce Michaelis followed with a bunt single, which also allowed Barker to reach third base on the throw. Max Hoover then followed with a pinch-hit single up the middle, which scored both Barker and Michaelis to give the Chargers a 6-4 lead. With Xander Danner at third base after a ground out, Finnen hit a hard ground ball that was misplayed for an error, allowing Danner to score and make it 7-4. The Flyers had a batter reach on a dropped third strike to lead off the seventh, but receiver Ben Bates capped his strong outing by getting a ground out and back-to-back strikeouts to end the game. Blake Simon allowed four earned runs on six hits with three strikeouts and two walks in the first three innings. Bates followed with four scoreless innings. He allowed just two hits with eight strikeouts and one walk on 69 pitches (43 strikes). "Ben came in and threw well," Sean Hoover said. "He threw strikes, kept St. Paul off balance … it is his second really good outing of the year." St. Paul head coach Aaron Fries said he knew his team missed chances early to add to the 4-0 lead. "We hit the ball well off their starter, but we struggled with runners in scoring position," Fries said. "We had an opportunity to really create some separation in those first three innings and when we didn't, it left the door open for them to come back on us." Kole Maxwell went the first four innings and allowed two earned runs on four hits. He struck out two and walked one. Kuhnle pitched the last two innings and allowed four earned runs on four hits with one strikeout and no walks. "Pitching was again a positive," Fries said. "Kole Maxwell did a nice job against a very good lineup. It feels good to get him going a bit. He is really going to be a key part of our staff as we get into the heart of our season, so today was a confidence booster for sure." Dymond finished 3 for 4 for Edison, with Fry driving in three runs and Thomas Simon adding the two hits and scoring twice. "I'm glad we were able to get a game in, and this was a good win against a quality opponent," Sean Hoover said. "It is hard to get hitters and pitchers into a rhythm when you only have one game in a week due to the weather. "St. Paul was very aggressive at the plate early," he added. "I liked the fight that we showed throughout the game. We continued battling and were able to get the win." Edison won the SBC Bay Division in 2018 and 2019, and finished one game behind rival Huron last season. The Chargers went on to lose in extra innings in a Div. III regional semifinal against Archbold. Edison will host Willard on Monday in a league matchup. St. Paul, which has won the past four Firelands Conference championships, will host New London on Monday in search of their third conference win in as many tries to start the season. "I'm really happy for the most part with the way we played," Fries said. "There are a lot of things to feel good about after today's game, but if we want to beat teams like Edison, we need to clean a few things up." St. Paul 130 000 0 — 4 8 2Edison 002 023 x — 7 9 0WP: Bates; LP: Kuhnle2B: (SP) Maxwell; (E) Fry