Riders win slugfest

MINSTER - Friday night's St. Marys-Minster ACME baseball game had the feel of a 15-round heavyweight boxing match. Both teams went toe-to-toe, got some shots in, and never backed down.

St. Marys scored five runs in the top of the first inning and then held on through Minster's comebacks en route to winning 9-8 at Hanover Street Park. The win moves the Roughriders to 3-6 on the summer as Minster drops to 10-5.  

"It was one of those nights where everything was a grind," St. Marys coach Justin Gilmore said. "Nothing came easy for either (team). We punched them really quick and they punched back. It was a grind all the way until the end."

The Roughriders sent 10 batters to the plate in the first inning as Minster committed two errors and starting pitcher Mike Ketner allowed five hits. Carson Fischbach had an RBI single and Ethan Rose added an RBI double in the inning.

Minster answered with two runs in the bottom of the first as August Boehnlein had an RBI single and Dylan Sharp walked with the bases loaded to score another run. The Wildcats added three more in the third to tie the score and chase Jordan Moore from the game after two-plus innings. Sharp had a two-run single to lead the charge.

Just as quick, St. Marys came back with two runs in the fourth to take a 7-5 lead. Clay Quellhorst singled home one run and another came on an error.

"They were just hitting it where we weren't," Minster coach Jay Eilerman said. "A tip of the hat to (St. Marys)."

Minster took the lead in the bottom of the fourth with three runs. Three straight doubles by Boehnlein, Noah Enneking and Sharp provided the runs to make it an 8-7 game.

"We started to finally hit the ball," Eilerman said. "Being a hot day, we were able to come back mentally and stick with it."

But St. Marys was not about to concede, scoring twice in the fifth. After Derek Fisher walked, Fischbach tripled Fisher home to tie the game. A wild pitch by Ethan Lehmkuhl brought home Fischbach for the go-ahead run.

"I thought tonight was the first time in a couple of games where we really saw the ball well," Gilmore said. "I thought once we got on base, we were extremely aggressive in moving on hits and runs and stealing when we had the opportunities. We gave ourselves great scoring opportunities."

The Roughrider bullpen took charge in holding Minster scoreless over its final three at-bats. Quellhorst pitched a scoreless fifth before loading the bases in the sixth. Gilmore brought in Fischbach to try and get out of the jam. Fischbach did his job by getting a strikeout and a flyout to end the inning.

In the seventh, Ketner reached on a one-out single before Fischbach got the final two outs.

"We have a couple kids out, so a couple kids we had come in haven't necessarily pitched a lot this summer," Gilmore said. "They came in and threw strikes and got the outs we needed.

"There was never a calm moment all seven innings tonight," Gilmore added.

Fischbach went 2-for-4 with three runs scored to go along with his save.

Sharp went 3-for-3 with two doubles and four RBIs for Minster. Boehnlein added three hits and Ketner, Roetgerman and Enneking each had two hits. The Wildcats left 15 runners on base.

"Dylan has been hitting well the last couple games," Eilerman said. "We're fairly young and missing a couple guys, so it's nice to see guys stepping up. Hopefully, the hitting continues in the tournament."

The teams get final tuneups before tournament on Monday. St. Marys travels to Van Wert and Minster heads to St. Henry.