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Fort Recovery's Ian McCain, right, throws to first as Minster's Ty Hein runs to second.
MINSTER - To compete in baseball in the MAC, you have to win your clunkers. Early errors from Fort Recovery allowed Minster to build a 5-3 lead, but the Indians rallied in the seventh and picked up a 7-6 road win to stay undefeated in conference play.
"I'm glad our guys did not quit and kept some fight in them," Fort Recovery coach Kevin Eyink said.
The Wildcats (7-4) got the scoring started in the bottom of the first. James Kuehner's first-pitch single started the rally while Ty Hein reached on an error to put two on with no outs. With runners on the corners, Carson Kaylor's fly ball was enough to drive in Kuehner, and Minster led 1-0.
Another run came across just two pitches later. Jace Hemmelgarn roped a ball to center field, and the wind carried it enough to get past Fort Recovery's Reece Wendel. Reese Beair scored easily, and it was 2-0 Minster.
It stayed that way for all of three batters. The Indians cut the deficit in half when Alex Gaerke, who reached on an error, scored on pitcher Caden Homan's single up the middle.
Another immediate response came, this time from Minster in the bottom half of the second. Chase Dirksen's bloop single led off the frame, and another error from the Indians put two Cats on with one out.
It set the stage for Ty Hein to do some damage. While his hit was spiked to third, Gaerke's throw was away from the Luke Fortkamp at first. It gave Dirksen enough time to get home, and Minster's lead was now 3-1.
Fort Recovery's Luke Fortkamp, left, and Dylan Klenke celebrate after Fortkamp's home run. The duo homered in the Indians' win at Minster.
Fort Recovery responded again, this time with some big hits. Nine-hitter Dylan Klenke led off the third inning with a blast over the right-field wall to make it a one-run game. Fortkamp tied it three batters later on his solo shot to center. Minster starter Dom Meyer was forced to throw nearly 30 pitches in the inning as the Indians showed the power.
"We struggled a little bit last night (a 9-3 loss to Lincolnview), so we talked about having a much better approach at the plate," Eyink said. "We can hit it better and the guys came out and showed that tonight."
Kuehner reached first on an error from Ian McCain to start the fifth for Minster. With Reese Beair on first after a single, Homan tried to throw over to the base threat. His throw went rough, and Kuehner took the extra 90 feet to give Minster a 4-3 lead.
John Inskeep made it 5-3 an inning later on his single to left that scored Dirksen. Minster had done the hard work to take its two-run lead into the seventh, and just needed three outs.
Minster's John Inskeep dives for a catch against Fort Recovery.
Andrew Ketner was still on the mound to close it out, but three straight walks was enough for coach Wiss to make another change with the sacks full and no outs. Kaylor came in to pitch, and McCain stepped up with the big chance.
He delivered. His single found the left-field grass to tie it at 5-all with still no outs. Homan helped his own cause with a two-strike single to left that brought in two more runs, and Fort Recovery took a 7-5 lead into the bottom of the seventh.
Gaerke was tasked with the closing duties, and forced Beair into a groundout to start. A Kaylor grounder looked to give the Indians a second out, but Fortkamp could not hang on at first to bring the tying run up.
Hayden Linn drove in Kaylor on a two-out single, but it was not enough. A strikeout from Gaerke ended the wild game, one that finished with nine combined errors.
"We gave them some stuff," Minster coach Mike Wiss said. "But when (Fort Recovery) looks at their line, they gave us six errors, and they gave us our last two runs. We obviously did not want to start the seventh the way it did, but those are things we have to fight through. We have to learn how to finish games."
Homan picked up the win for Fort Recovery after six innings of work. He allowed six hits and five runs with one earned, and struck out four. Gaerke got the save for his inning of duty. Homan and Klenke were the only players with two hits for Fort Recovery, which finished with nine knocks. The Indians will look to stay at the top of the conference next time out against Coldwater back home, with a 5 p.m. scheduled start.
Ketner took the loss for Minster, as all three runners scored in the seventh. Dirksen had two hits to lead the offense. The Wildcats will look for MAC win No. 1 Thursday at Parkway, with a 5 p.m. first pitch.
