Tuesday, May 3rd, 2022
Resilient Riders
After errors tie game in seventh, St. Marys bounces back with walkoff win
By Tom Haines
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
St. Marys catcher Joey Caldwell (2) and first baseman Trey Leatherman (3) salute each other after scoring on Ty Kiehl's three-run double in the third inning at K.C. Geiger Park on Monday.
ST. MARYS - After two errors in the seventh inning allowed St. Henry to tie the game, St. Marys baseball coach Adam Graves told his team to relax.
"I told our guys once they tied it up, all we got to do is win from this point," Graves said. "All we've got to do is score in the bottom of the seventh or win in any inning after that."
The Roughriders didn't get it done in the bottom of the seventh, but one inning later, Brayden Sullivan hit a two-out shot to the wall to drive in the winning run for a walkoff 5-4 win in eight innings at K.C. Geiger Park on Monday.
Reliever Ty Kiehl, who was charged with two unearned runs in the top of the seventh, got two strikeouts and set the Redskins down in order in the eight to turn it back over to the offense. Alex Yahl started things off with a one-out single, a line drive just over the glove of leaping shortstop Bryce Brookhart, before St. Henry (12-5) got a chance to get out of the inning when Cole Koenig lined out to Mark Knapke at third.
Knapke fired to first baseman Drew Schwieterman as Yahl slid back in, and the umpire started to call Yahl out before the ball fell out of Schwieterman's glove to keep the Roughriders going, and A.J. Dieringer chopped the first pitch he saw up the middle, again just evading Brookhart's glove as the shortstop dove past the bag.
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
St. Henry shortstop Bryce Brookhart winds up to throw to first at K.C. Geiger Park on Monday.
With two on and two out, Sullivan stepped in and drove the first pitch to the fence in right-center. As Yahl crossed the plate, Sullivan pulled up in front of second base and leapt for joy, and Dieringer turned around in the basepath and bolted over to him to begin the celebration.
"The last two games, we've been focused from the beginning of the game all the way through, and that's what we've kind of struggled with at times," Graves said. "We've played some very good baseball at times, and we've had lapses where the energy hasn't been there. These last two games, we've had energy through both games, and now we have two wins in a row."
St. Marys (5-10) led most of the game, but St. Henry hung around and was ready when an opportunity arose in the seventh. Bryce Brookhart worked a seven-pitch leadoff walk and Shane Franck hit a sharp ground ball to third baseman Jace Turner, who deflected it into left field as both runners reached safely.
After a sacrifice bunt by Drew Schwieterman, Kiehl walked Clayton Everman to load the bases for Seth Heitkamp, who smashed another grounder down the third base line. Again it deflected off Turner and rolled into the outfield as Brookhart and Franck raced around to tie the game.
"Chipping away and tying the game up in the seventh, that's good to see," St. Henry coach Mike Gast said. "I think that's the sign of a good team, the dugout not dying out or anything like that. The energy was there, and it put us in position to win late."
With two runners still on, Kiehl got Dusty Lange to ground out to short before Eli Horstman lined a shot into right field, where Yahl was perfectly positioned to reach up and make the catch to end the inning.
"If that's five feet one way or another, it's a really difficult play," Gast said. "It was just right at him."
St. Marys got on the board in the third inning after Koenig worked a leadoff walk to start things off. Dieringer laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt and pitcher Devin Delzeith threw the ball away to first, but the plate umpire called Dieringer out and sent Koenig back to first.
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
St. Henry's Drew Schwieterman waits for the pickoff throw from Devin Delzeith as St. Marys shortstop A.J. Dieringer slides back into the bag in the first inning at K.C. Geiger Park on Monday.
After another groundout, Joey Caldwell hit an infield single just fair down the third base line, and Delzeith hit Trey Leatherman in the back before Kiehl sliced a 1-1 pitch over Heitkamp's head in centerfield to clear the bases.
After back-to-back walks by St. Marys starter Calvin Caywood and a single by Knapke got a run back for the Redskins, Yahl reached on an error and moved to second on Dieringer's two-out single, then scored on Sullivan's bloop single over third.
All five Roughrider runs came with two outs.
"We had clutch hitting when we needed it, bottom line," Graves said. "We got in position where we got bases loaded, Ty came through with a huge clutch hit for us. Alex Yahl did a great job, getting a base hit in the eighth to put us in position, then we got two hits to give Sully a chance to drive in the winning run."
St. Henry cut the lead to 4-2 in the fifth, when Caywood hit Brookhart to lead off the inning and Kiehl dropped a grounder after cutting off Dieringer in front of the bag. Clayton Everman hit a bloop single over second to bring Brookhart home, which brought Graves out to the mound to pull Caywood.
In came Kiehl from second, moving Koenig from third to second and bringing Turner in at third. Kiehl promptly struck out Heitkamp and got Lange to ground out to end the threat.
"Them scoring early kind of took us out of some things offensively that we like to do," Gast said. "It's tough to play behind, but we battled back. I'm proud of the guys' effort."
While the infield defense struggled, St. Marys left fielder Caleb Felver made a highlight-reel catch to rob Heitkamp of a double in the second inning, snaring a sinking drive down the line with a full-extension dive that drew a loud ovation.
Both teams turn to conference play today, as St. Henry travels to Delphos St. John's for a Midwest Athletic Conference game as St. Marys, now on its first winning streak of the year after beating Kenton on Friday, hosts Western Buckeye League rival Elida.
