Roughriders hold off Flyers for 3-2 victory

MARIA STEIN - Nathan Wilker's hit put St. Marys on the scoreboard in the fifth. He then saved the day with Marion Local's making a late comeback attempt.

Wilker had a clutch two-out RBI single and came on in relief to strike out two Flyers with the bases loaded in the sixth, helping the Roughriders pull out a 3-2 victory on Senior Night Monday in Maria Stein.

The two teams were in similar boats as each had its postseason ended with a loss on Saturday. But both came ready to play on Monday.

Pitchers Austin Cook and Jared Bergman ran the show for most of the night. They allowed a combined four hits through four innings before the offense picked up late.

After leaving ducks on the pound in three of the first four innings, St. Marys finally broke through in the fifth. Will Spencer doubled off Bergman to begin the inning. He was bunted to third by Jacob Hollman. Wilker delivered the go-ahead single with two outs to make it 1-0.

The Roughriders tacked on a pair of much-needed insurance runs in their following at-bat. Chase Roop's double scored Dustin Howell and then Jared Rose later pushed Roop across with a groundout.

"Nate's hit to at least get us a run on the board with two outs was big, and then we were able to tack a couple more on later," St. Marys coach Jeff Dieringer said. "That's been our story ... we can get guys on base ... against Lima Bath on Saturday we left 15 on. It's just been our Achilles Heel no doubt about it, but I was glad we were able to at least get three across."

That turned out to be all St. Marys needed, but it definitely looked gloomy late.

Cole Griesdorn launched the Flyers' comeback bid with a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the sixth. Cook exited after giving up a bloop single to Hunter Wilker. On the hill for St. Marys came Aaron Alexander, who struggled with his control, hitting a batter and walking two more. His second walk issued to pinch-hitter Trent Bohman brought home Marion's second run.

Nathan Wilker stepped on the pitcher's rubber with one out and the bases loaded. He struck out Ryan Thobe and Aaron Nietfeld to keep the score 3-2. Wilker cruised in the seventh to earn the save and preserve the win for Cook, who had gone 5 1/3 innings, having given up five hits, two earns runs and striking out three.

"It was a tough night to pitch," Dieringer said. "Austin Cook came out and threw well. He hasn't thrown in quite a while, but we wanted to see what he could do starting-wise. He came out and commanded well, and then I'm glad Nate came in and shut the door."

Bergman allowed five hits, struck out five and walked none in six innings of work.

"Two things stick out to me today about Jared," Marion Local coach Casey Witt explained. "A) He threw strikes. He didn't walk anybody. B) He had really good command of his curveball in all parts of the count. That makes a really big difference. When he throws that curveball for strikes, he's pretty darn effective.

"I thought he was lights out," Witt added. "I thought for the most part we played pretty well behind him. Sometimes it's all about timely hitting and being able to score one run instead of trying to score runs in bunches, and we didn't do that tonight."

Ian Kramer pitched a scoreless seventh. Griesdorn and Cole Unrast had two hits apiece for the Flyers, who stranded eight runners on base in the loss.

The Flyers, who lost their tournament opener to Crestview on Saturday, can end the season on a positive note with a win at rival Fort Recovery today.

Up next for the Roughriders is a game at Fort Recovery on Thursday.