Tuesday, May 10th, 2016

Roughriders hold off Flyers for 3-2 victory

By Colin Foster
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard

Marion Local's Jared Bergman pitched six innings of four-hit baseball in Monday's loss to St. Marys.

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.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard

Starting pitcher Austin Cook pitched 5 1/3 innings and earned the victory for St. Marys in a 3-2 decision over Marion Local on Monday.

Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard

Marion Local shortstop Aaron Nietfeld fields a grounder during Monday's game in Maria Stein.

Additional online stories on this date
Local officials say they are receptive to collaboration
ST. MARYS - City officials have reached out to Celina officials regarding a possible joint effort for clean drinking water.
Mayor Patrick McGowan o [More]
St. Marys offers Celina possible water solution
CELINA - City officials say they're open to partnering with their neighbors to the east to procure drinking water for both communities after receiving a request from St. Marys Mayor Patrick McGowan. [More]
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
CELINA - City councilman Mike Sovinski at Monday night's meeting scolded the planning commission, specifically member and mayor Jeff Hazel, for not providing council with necessary information regarding the panel's zoning change recommendation.
ST. MARYS - Tri Star Career Compact officials fielded a few questions from voters at the first of two informational meetings regarding the Tri Star 2.0 project.
New Bremen
NEW BREMEN - The village will likely pay more in architectural fees due to higher costs for recent building projects.
Village administrator Wayne Y
Coldwater
COLDWATER - Village officials are hoping for grant money to replace a traffic signal and some street lights.
Council members on Monday approved an
ST. HENRY - The Willow Street reconstruction project is nearly complete.
Village council members on Monday approved paying the local share of the project to the Ohio Public Works Commission.
Marion Local
MARIA STEIN - New and upgraded Marion Local Schools facilities continue to be discussed, but no decisions will be made until more research is completed.
ST. HENRY - School board members voted at Monday night's meeting to adjust salary schedules for the non-teaching staff to bring the pay into line with the agreement recently reached with the teachers.
ST. HENRY - St. Henry softball coach Kylie Huelsman said after the game that her squad had a tendency to start out slowly against teams.
That was not the case on Monday.
Monday's Local Roundup
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
Bryce Langenkamp and Kyle Lochtefeld returned to Celina as WBL second doubles champions after completion of the league tournament in Lima on Monday.