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Celina's Luke Maxwell, left, tags out St. Marys' Jackson Green near first base.
CELINA - It's always something when Celina and St. Marys meet, regardless of the sport. The Bulldogs took a 3-1 lead in Friday's WBL game, but the Roughriders rallied to take a 4-3 lead. After Celina's clutch hitting sent it to extras, it was Dyllan Fink who played hero for St. Marys and gave his team their ninth win in a row in a big-time Battle for Grand Lake.
"Whenever we play them, it's always a close game," St. Marys coach Adam Graves said. "When you're playing a rival, you have to rise to the occasion and give everything you got."
It was the Roughriders' (9-0) bats that struck first, in the second inning. Cleanup hitter Preston Rupert led off the inning with a walk, while Luke Rammel gave himself up to put Rupert on second.
That set the stage for Blake Dingledine with one away in the inning. The senior delivered with two strikes, as his single to centerfield was enough to bring Rupert home. While the Riders took a 1-0 lead into the third inning, Celina (2-6) had a response at the ready.
Brodee Schulte-Arnold's one-out single was amplified by Collier Holstad's full-count walk to put two on. Wes Greber delivered the big blow with a two-run single to right field to score Schulte-Arnold, while a throwing error from St. Marys allowed Holstad to round third and give Celina a 2-1 lead.
With Greber on third, Chance Miller kept the party going with a grounder to second. Miller was out, but Greber was home and it was 3-1 Bulldogs after three innings. Their three runs scored was already more than Celina had combined to score over their last two games, but the action was just getting started.
Celina's Braylon Parker throws the ball into the infield.
Innings four and five saw St. Marys plate one run each to tie it. The first of the runs came from Aiden Meinerding's single to center, which scored Rupert. An inning later, small-ball was the emphasis after Reese Howell walked to open the frame. Dyllan Fink bunted Howell over to second, and he later reached third on a single from Caleb Rohrbach.
Gross helped his own cause by sending a ball to left field, deep enough to score Howell and tie the game at 3-all. The senior then delivered a scoreless bottom half of the fifth to keep the momentum with the Riders.
A leadoff single from Fink opened the seventh and closed the night for Greber's relief appearance. With Tanner Wendel on the hill, a sac-bunt from Rohrbach gave the new arm a runner in scoring position one batter in.
Rammel stepped up with two away and came through in a big spot. The now pitcher gave his team the lead with a rope into right field which easily scored Fink. A big fly out ended the top half, and Celina was down to its final three outs.
After a groundout from Schulte-Arnold, Holstad put the tying run on with his double to center that just missed Dingledine's diving effort. Ohyn May eventually stepped up with two on and needing a hit.
He got it and then some with a single to right field that scored Holstad, and the bases were loaded after Miller was intentionally walked. Braylon Steinbrunner's flyball looked like a perfect sac fly opportunity, but a miscommunication at third kept Greber at the bag. Rammel forced another fly out to end the seventh, and Celina was left to rue the chance.
"He just didn't tag up," Celina coach John Dorner said of the fly ball. "They were concerned it wasn't deep enough, so that's the way it goes."
The eighth inning began as the lights lit up the field. Meinerding lit up a Luke Maxwell fastball, and St. Marys had the leading run on first. Pinch runner Reid Kantner was moved to second on a bunt, but a groundout threatened the opportunity.
With two away, it was Fink who delivered for the Riders with a single just over the third baseman's glove and they took a 4-3 lead into the home half of the eighth.
St. Marys' Reese Howell, left, and Dyllan Fink celebrate after Ceina's BJ Tare is caught stealing to end the game.
With their 8-9-1 up, the Bulldogs needed to take risks. Simon Schwartz's one-out single gave hope to the team, but a fly out made it a tougher ask. With pinch-runner BJ Tare back on first, the go sign was given from the bench. Tare took off, but Green's throw was on the money and Tare was left to watch from second as St. Marys celebrated.
"I'm so proud of my guys," Graves said. "We didn't die, we just kept fighting, the energy was there and we just kept getting after (Celina)."
Rammel picked up the win after three innings of one-run ball in relief, while Luke Maxwell took the loss for Celina.
"We had many opportunities (Celina left 10 on base) and we need to take advantage," Dorner said.
