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Grand Lake's Andrew Kell gets a high-five from the batboy during Tuesday's game with Muskegon at Montgomery Field. Kell had the game-winning single in the bottom of the night to give the Mariners a come-from-behind 20-19 victory.
CELINA - If anyone left Montgomery Field before the bottom of the ninth inning, they missed a wild finish.
Andrew Kell's two-run single in the bottom of the ninth inning was the final comeback of the night as Grand Lake scored seven runs in their final turn at-bat to beat Muskegon 20-19 in Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League play on Tuesday night.
The Mariners (8-17) trailed 5-1, 12-7 and 13-10 earlier in the game, briefly took a 6-5 lead after the fourth inning and were trailing 19-13 heading to the bottom of the ninth.
"When you're down six runs in the ninth, it's never easy," said Kell, who also had the game-winning hit in the Mariners' win over Michigan last Thursday. "It takes a lot of heart and resilience. Just a lot of fight."
"Guys didn't quit," said Mariners skipper Neil Schaffner. "We got the extra point and won."
The muggy conditions and the breeze blowing out of the park turned Montgomery Field into a smaller version of Atlanta's old Fulton County Stadium - known as "The Launching Pad" - as the teams combined for nine home runs and 38 total hits on the night.
"With the wind blowing out, the ball was going to fly," said Schaffner. "Both teams could hit."
Minster graduate Johnny Nixon started and gutted his way through six innings, allowing 13 hits and 12 runs (nine earned) with just one walk.
The Mariners started their comeback by getting a run back in the bottom of the sixth on Kell's RBI single that scored Jackson Rains, making it 12-8. In the seventh, Stefan Di Corrado brought home Cameron Bryant with a fly ball, then Ty Davis hit his second home run of the night to trim the margin to 13-10.
In the eighth, the Mariners loaded the bases with two outs. Bryant's sacrifice fly scored Rains and Aiden Booth followed with a single to score Ethyn Barnitz. After Di Corrado reached on an error to load the bases and the Clippers brought on Zachary Warren, Davis, who was 5-for-5 coming into the at-bat, walked to bring home Austyn Peak to tie the game at 13-all.
Grand Lake shortstop Austyn Peak tags out Muskegon's Cole Mason trying to steal second base in the fourth inning.
Andrew Kirila, who relieved Nixon in the seventh, looked to keep the Clippers from scoring, but Sam Clay launched a shot over the centerfield fence for his second home run of the game to break the tie. After Cooper Hums singled, Schaffner brought on Ryan Uhlenhake to get out of trouble.
The St. Henry graduate struggled, giving up a single to Justin Johnson before striking out Preston Leon for the first out. Uhlenhake then walked Austin Cicerone and Cole Mason to load the bases for Ashtyn Wong, who drew the third straight walk to score Johnson. Carson McCoy followed with a walk of his own to score Cicerone. Uhlenhake got a strikeout, but Clay returned the plate and hit a two-run single to make it 19-13. After Hums walked, Johnson popped out to end the inning.
Grand Lake's Jackson Rains hits one of his two home runs in the Mariners' 20-19 victory over Muskegon.
Warren stayed in to try and get the final three outs, but the Mariners were not ready to go home just yet. Rains took the second pitch he saw from Warren over the fence in right center for his second homer of the night.
Kell drew a walk and Barnitz and Peak singled to load the bases for Bryant. With no one warming up in the Muskegon bullpen, Warren tried to get out of the jam, but Bryant singled to score Kell and pinch-runner Drew Emerson to cut the margin to 19-16.
Booth hit a fly to right, allowing Peak to score to make it 19-17. Di Corrado then was hit by a pitch to bring up Davis. After a wild pitch moved the runners up 90 feet, the Clippers chose to point Davis to first for the intentional walk to load the bases for Edwin Bowman IV.
Another wild pitch scored Bryant and moved Davis and Di Corrado up a base. Bowman popped up to third base for the second out. The Clippers then intentionally walked Rains to load the bases for Kell, who took Warren's 1-1 offering past to the right side of the infield as Di Corrado and Davis dashed home to end the marathon.
"It was the same exact thing (like Thursday). I just got put in the right situation." said Kell, who went 3-for-5 with three RBI in the win. "Can't say enough about Ty and Jackson for allowing us to be in this situation. A helluva game from both of them as well."
"It's just awesome. The guys didn't quit," said Schaffner. "It's a good win for those guys.
"We have a lot of home games (the rest of the season). We're going to be exciting the rest of the way. That's good energy."
Davis finished 5-for-5 with four runs and four RBI. Rains was 4-for-6 with three RBI. Bryant and Di Corrado each had two hits for Grand Lake.
Clay finished his night going 6-for-6 with seven RBI to lead Muskegon. Hums and Johnson each had three hits and Wong hit his league-leading seventh home run.
The two teams will look to add to the excitement tonight - weather permitting - in the second game of the three-game series starting at 6:35 p.m.
