Bring 'em home

FORT RECOVERY - The key to winning baseball can be summed in the following phrase: "Get 'em on, get 'em over and get 'em in."

For six innings, Celina got 'em on and got 'em over, but getting 'em in was a challenge as the Bulldogs stranded 14 and scored just twice.

That changed in the top of the seventh, as Celina scored three runs to come away with the 5-4 win over Fort Recovery in Mercer County ACME baseball action at the Fort Recovery diamond.

Both teams struggled at times with pitching. Fort Recovery's trio of pitchers walked seven and hit six batters while Celina's pitchers walked five and the team committed three errors.

"We didn't really square up on the ball," said Celina coach Tim Harter. "We had one ball that we squared up on through the first six innings. Just left too many baserunners. But the kids didn't give up."

For all that, the game was just 2-1 after four innings after the Indians plated two in the top of the first on a double by Landon Post that scored Troy Homan and Cale Rammel bringing home Post with a single. Celina got a run back in the second when Homan loaded the bases with a walk, hit batsman and single, setting up Nick Steinbrunner's sacrifice fly to right to score RJ Muhlenkamp.

Post came on for Homan with no outs in the third, got the Indians out of a jam, and then got out of the fourth leaving two Bulldogs on. Celina tied the game in the fifth when Max Baumstark doubled and came home on a Muhlenkamp single.

Fort Recovery quickly regained the lead off Celina reliever Dale Secrest, who came on in the fifth in relief of Caleb Stephenson. Homan led off by drawing a walk and Post followed with a hard shot up the middle. The throw to try and get Homan at third went into the third base dugout, allowing Homan to trot home. Post, who ended up at third, came home on a Rammel sac fly.

In the seventh, Rex Leverette came on for Fort Recovery to try and shut the door, and after getting the first out, Leverette hit Carver Harris. Nick Steinbrunner popped out to second for the second out, but Blayn Aller singled to bring up Stephenson, who smashed a triple down the right field line, clearing the bases to tie the game. Brady Steinbrunner came up and lashed a double to left to bring home the go-ahead run.

"We needed one more out and couldn't get one," said Fort Recovery coach Ross Homan. "Pitching did a good job of bending and not breaking. Overall, our hitting started hot, but towards the end of the game when you can't get the out, that's tough. Give props to Celina, they stayed in the whole game."

Secrest put away any doubt in the bottom of seventh by retiring the side in order on three straight groundouts.

"We don't have any flamethrowers, anybody that's going to get 10-12 strikeouts," said Harter, whose pitchers fanned five - all by Stephenson - in the contest. "We have our pitchers throw to contact and let our defense play."

Celina (6-2) is back in action tonight with a 7:30 p.m. contest in Rockford against Parkway. Fort Recovery (3-1) travels to Coldwater tonight for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch.