Norwalk outlasts Plymouth for sixth straight

NORWALK — At times, it felt like chaos. Or, as Norwalk baseball head coach Jason Higgins noted, a bit of madness was going on. But ultimately, the Truckers came out on the right side of a 14-10 win over visiting Plymouth on Thursday in non-league play at NHS. The Big Red (3-3) and Truckers (7-1) combined to score 24 runs on 16 hits with a combined 10 errors. The two teams also used six pitchers, including four by host Norwalk. "There are going to be a few games like this where a lot of madness is going on," Higgins said after his team won for a sixth straight time. "We looked good at some points, and at other points we kicked the ball around and didn't throw strikes. "But the bats came around when we needed them to, and we were fortunate enough to come out on top and save some pitching." Norwalk got its first two runs on the first two of eight errors by Plymouth, then Kaedyn Warner had a single to left to score Landon Ferkel for a 3-0 lead. Canyon Craig scored on a passed ball, followed by Noah Helton with an RBI single to score Grady Naseman after he had also reached on a single in the second inning for the 5-0 lead. The Big Red loaded the bases with the first three batters of the top of the third. Keegan Beverly then drew a bases-loaded walk, and Lex Grose was hit by a pitch to force in two runs. Jarrett Burrer followed with an RBI single to make it 5-3, and Evan King drew another bases-loaded walk to make it 5-4. Plymouth then tied the game when Grose was able to score on a throwing error. The Big Red added four runs in the top of the fourth to take a 9-5 lead. With two on, Grose hit a three-run home run to right field. Burrer was hit by a pitch, and King singled, which set up Lucas Distl for an RBI double and a 9-5 advantage. But back came the Truckers. Norwalk scored six times in the bottom of the fourth to regain the lead at 11-9. Carter Harp led things off with an RBI double to score Helton, who reached on an error. Norwalk then scored the next five runs with two outs. Caiden Wilson came through with a two-run single after Warner and Ferkel walked, then Craig singled in Wilson to push the Truckers ahead. Nate King closed the scoring with an RBI single to left. Ferkel added a two-run single to center in the fifth, and he later scored in the frame on an error to make it 14-9. "The guys didn't get down, and we really talked about that," Higgins said. "We're going to have to win games like this sometimes. These are high school kids, and it's not always going to be pretty. "There are mistakes and mental lapses and emotions, which we tried to minimize a lot of today. But we were fortunate to come out on top." Plymouth loaded the bases with one out in the top of the seventh but only got one run across when Lincoln Distl hit a sacrifice fly to score Desean Winfield. "We came in here just trying to get some good baseball reps in, but we came out and made too many errors," Plymouth head coach Adam Beverly said. "We've been trying to clean that up since the season started, but that's been our problem. Our bats haven't been really hot, either, so on the positive side, we faced a good team like Norwalk, and we started hitting the ball and scored some today. "It's a nice positive boost to take into next week. We just need to clean it up in the field right now. If we can eliminate the errors in this game, we might be going back to Plymouth with the win." King earned the win for Norwalk with 3 1/3 innings of relief. Grady Naseman, Max Bores, and Tyson Corbin also pitched for the Truckers. "We're getting a little thinner on the back end for sure, but our schedule is very front-loaded," Higgins said of his pitching. "If we get through these couple of weeks, things will slow down and shape up a little bit for the pitching the rest of the way." Norwalk is right back in action on Friday with a home league game against Clyde in SBC Lake Division play. First pitch is slated for 4:45 p.m. "These guys will be ready to play," Higgins said. "It's about execution once we get there. Some of these guys are building confidence every day to try and be ready for big moments." Plymouth 005 400 1 — 10 8 8 Norwalk 320 630 x — 14 8 2 WP: King; LP: Lucas Distl 2B: (PL) Burrer, Lucas Distl; (N) Harp; HR: (PL) Grose