Sager hits walk-off homer

CELINA - Billy Sager was mad at himself for not being able to get a bunt down to move teammate Tyler Paulsen to third base.

Sager's outlet to vent frustration was to take the next pitch over the fence in right field for a walk-off two-run home run to give Grand Lake a come-from-behind 4-2 win over Xenia on Wednesday night at Montgomery Field to improve to 8-1.

"I have so much confidence in Billy. He's a hard worker," Grand Lake coach Chris O'Neill said. "To see him come through in the clutch again has been special for him. He's come up in big spots and got the job done."

After having lost 11-1 on Tuesday night to the Scouts and trailing 2-0 through the first 6 1/2 innings, the comeback made O'Neill a happy man.

Xenia (4-5) took the lead on the first pitch of the game when Adrian Marquez homered off Mathew Hudson. The Scouts added their other run off Hudson in the third when Colt Wolfe singled in John Sharpe, who walked and then went all the way to third on an errant pickoff throw.

After that, Hudson (five innings, six hits, three walks), Payton Coddou (one scoreless inning) and Gary Clift (three innings, four strikeouts, three hits) kept the Scouts from adding to the lead.

"One of the things we talked about before the game was (about) the ability to respond from yesterday," O'Neill said. "Mat gave us the opportunity to stay in the game and let our bats feel the pitchers out. ... It was nice to have some guys give us the ability to rely on our bullpen again."

Xenia starter Jorge Lozano kept the Mariners under his control through the first six innings. Grand Lake did not record a hit until Michael Brown singled with two out in the fifth.

In the seventh, though, the Mariners finally put some hits together. Derek Parola reached on a one-out infield single. Justin Mercer followed with a double to put runners on second and third. Lozano uncorked a wild pitch to score Parola and then Brown flew out to center to score Mercer with the sacrifice fly to tie the game.

Clift struck out the side in the eighth but had to battle out of trouble in the top of the ninth after Cory Holloway singled. Aaron Valance bunted his teammate to second and a wild pitch on a strikeout of Marquez moved Holloway to third. Clift got out of trouble when Ryan O'Hearn bunted too far and Clift completed the 1-3 putout to send the game to the ninth.

Adrian Peraza, who had retired the Mariners in order in the eighth, faced Paulsen to start the ninth. Paulsen hit a grounder between second and first that had both the first and second basemen going to defend. Paulsen slid head-first into the base for the infield hit. After Paulsen stole second, Sager tried to bunt the runner to third but was unable to get the bunt down. With the count at 3-2, Seger now focused on just trying to hit the ball to move the runner. The offering was hit hard, but Sager wasn't watching the ball as he took off. Finally the cheers of his teammates let him know he could trot home.

"My goal was to get to second base and not watch (the ball)," Sager said. Then I heard the guys cheering me on, so I guess something happened. I was pretty mad at myself not getting the bunt down. That was priority number one. I knew I had to do something then and there to get on base.

Grand Lake travels to Sienna Heights University in Adrian, Mich. to face league newcomer Irish Hills tonight. The Mariners and Leprechauns come back to Celina on Friday for a 1:05 p.m. first pitch at Montgomery Field.
MARINER NOTES

• Mariners infielder Kyle Schimpf was not with the team Tuesday or Wednesday for a very good reason.

Older brother Ryan Schmipf made his Major League debut on Tuesday after having been called up by San Diego and started at third base in Tuesday's game against Miami. Kyle flew out to San Diego with his family to watch big brother's first game.

Ryan Schimpf, a fifth-round pick of Toronto in the 2009 draft, went 1-for-4 and scored a run in the Padres' loss to the Marlins. Ryan Schimpf was batting .365 with 48 RBIs for Triple-A El Paso before the promotion.

• Mitch Roman, a member of the 2014 Mariners team, was drafted in the 12th round of last week's Major League Baseball Draft by the Chicago White Sox.

Roman, who played for Wright State, shared the Horizon League lead for stolen bases with 26 to go along with a .336 batting average.