Thursday, June 21st, 2007

Mariners win wild one in 11th

Errant intentional walk brings home winning run

By Gary R. Rasberry
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard

Grand Lake catcher Dock Doyle connects for one of his three hits during the Mariners' contest against Licking County on Wednesday evening at Jim Hoess Field. Grand Lake won 5-4 in 11 innings.

As Grand Lake skipper Scott French said, it was a wild way to win, but they'll take it.
After losing a 4-3 lead in the eighth inning, the Mariners came back in the 11th, scoring on a botched intentional walk attempt to post a 5-4 win over the Licking County Settlers at Jim Hoess Field.
The win avenges a 5-4 loss to the Settlers last week. Grand Lake improves to 4-5 as the Settlers drop to 3-7.
"You take it anyway you can get it," said French. "We felt like we should have won the game earlier. We had a 4-3 and were under control.
"That was a wild end to the game. It's very rare. We'll take it."
The ending flurry started in the bottom of the 11th when Derek Martin lofted a shot to right. The ball hit the fence and Martin reached second standing up. Dock Doyle then grounded deep into the hole at shortstop and Andy Johnson opted to hold the ball, giving Doyle the single, rather than throw and risk a throwing error.
Brooks Hunton then came up and, rather than bunting the runners up one base, he lofted a short fly to right that kept the runners from tagging up.
Zac Richard, 1-for-4 in the game, was now up and on reliever Rob Gariano's second pitch, catcher Pat Trettel lost the handle as both runners moved up 90 feet. With first base now open and a likely pinch-hitter for Zachary Gerler on deck, the Settlers opted to intentionally walk Richard, which, unlike high school, the intentional has to be pitched out.
Unfortunately, Gariano threw a little too hard, throwing the ball several feet to the right of Trettel and Martin immediately came in to score the winning run without benefit of a play at the plate.
Grand Lake got solid pitching, as the Settlers only had baserunners in four of the 11 innings. It was two of those innings, however, where the Settlers got their runs. In the fourth, Jeremy Hazelbaker took a 3-1 offering from Creighton McCallum for a solo homer over the 350-foot sign in rightfield. That was followed by a walk to Tyler Rogers and after an out, a double by Steve Rosado put two on for Evan Jones, who singled in both runners to make it 3-0.
McCallum pitched a perfect fifth to close out his tenure, retiring the side in order for four of the five innings.
Brad Piatt came on in the sixth and retired the first eight batters he faced before Hazelbaker, singled. After Hazelbaker stole second, Rogers blasted a triple in the gap in right-centerfield. Hazelbaker came around to score as Rogers slid into third as French wasted no time in calling on closer Kyle Heyne, who got Scott Sieder to ground to short to end the inning.
"We had (Rogers) down in the count 1-2 when they scored that run," said French.
"(Piatt) might have pitched to one too many hitters, that may be my fault. He was out there and in a groove. We let him go."
Heyne finished the game with hitless innings in the ninth through 11th innings, allowing only a walk, but getting out of the jam when Brian Rudolf lined to Brooks Hunton, who stepped on first to get the double play in the 10th.
Grand Lake got a run back in the fourth when Martin scored after a Doyle single.
In the fifth, the Mariners snagged the 4-3 lead. Richard singled and Gerler walked, before Ryan Chenoweth bunted the runners up. Michael Stalter singled in Richard with an infield single. Mike Stalowy came up to hit for Keith Benbow, lofting a fly to center to score Gerler. Krauss followed with a double to score Stalter to get the lead.
The Mariner pitchers combined to scatter five hits and allow just two walks, striking out 12 Settlers along the way. Heyne, who improves to 1-1 with the win, struck out six in 3 1/3 innings.
"Heyne being able to stretch out and throw 3-4 innings was very clutch," said French.
Doyle went 3-for-5 in the contest while Krauss added two doubles.
Grand Lake heads north tonight for a contest at Lake Erie before coming home for a three-game homestand starting Friday with a 7:15 p.m. contest with the Columbus All-Americans.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard

Grand Lake first baseman Brooks Hunton fields a ground ball during the Mariners' Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League contest against Licking County on Wednesday night at Jim Hoess Field. Grand Lake took advantage of a Licking County error to win in the 11th inning, 5-4.

Additional online story on this date
Local teen team one of few chosen for contest
Look ... up in the sky! It's a bird. It's a plane. No, it's Celina's entry into the Nashville, Tenn., Flugtag.       Eleven 2007 Celina grads have built a flying machine to compete in Saturday's Red Bull Flugtag. [More]
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
Faulty equipment is the cause of the recent power outages in the area, Dayton Power and Light officials report.
Over two-thousand DP&L electricity customers in the areas of Rockford, Willshire, Mercer, Wren, Mendon and Glenmore lost power on two occasions this week.
Wright State University Lake Campus will offer two new bachelor of arts programs this fall, in which enrolling students can take all required classes at the branch.
ST. HENRY - The school's agriculture and industrial arts facility is undergoing a $34,000 renovation and reorganization project to utilize maximum space, according to Superintendent Rod Moorman.
ROCKFORD - Village officials are considering the consolidation of the tax administrator and village fiscal officer positions.
Village council membe
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
A ninth-inning rally came up short as St. Henry American Legion Post 648 suffered a 6-4 loss to Sidney Post 217 in District Two action at Sidney on Wednesday.
Last week, the first installment of The Daily Standard's sudoku guide demonstrated how to solve easy puzzles using two techniques. In this second edition, last week's techniques will be employed, but when their limitations are reached, a new approach will be introduced.