SPENCERVILLE — The postseason may not have started, but Perry and Spencerville played a non-league affair like it was one-and-done. And after gritty, nine innings, it was the Bearcats who came away with the 4-3 victory Tuesday night.
“That was a fun one,” said Bearcat head coach Shane Falke, who watched his team come up with clutch hits in the late innings to not only avoid the loss but secure the win. “I am proud of my team. Perry (13-7) is a very good team but we hung in there and battled and we rallied back and got the win .”
Perry head coach Mark Hoersten admitted that he would have loved to get the win, but said he has a young team, and it showed a little when several Commodore miscues allowed the Bearcats to take the lead in the sixth inning.
“We kept battling but we gave them two runs, and we never really recovered from that,” Hoersten said.
Going into the bottom of the sixth frame, Spencerville (9-8) faced a 2-1 deficit and an impending loss. However, the Bearcats rallied for three runs in the inning to take a 3-2 lead and appeared poised for the victory. But the Commodores came up with a rally of their own and tied the game in the top of the seventh to send the game to extra innings after the Bearcats came up empty in the bottom of the seventh.
Two innings later, the Bearcats finally got the win in a somewhat anti-climatic fashion when, after loading the bases, Thad Ringwald stung a sharp-hit ball that bounced off Perry pitcher Dustin Lauck, who was unable to get Ringwald at first and Mitchell Youngpeter crossed the plate with the winning run.
Prior to the late game offense , the two teams rode the arms of each’s respective pitchers in the first five frames. Hunter French, who started for the Bearcats, pitched 7 2/3 innings, allowing three hits, scattering nine hits while striking out eight and walking two. His counterpart, Sanders, was just as effective, going eight innings, limiting the Bearcats to five hits and three runs, and striking out 13 while walking seven.
“We were in some tough spots and my pitcher hung in there with the bases loaded and men in scoring position and he worked his way out of it,” Hoersten said. “That is what a good senior leader does.”
Falke said French put in an excellent performance but once he hit his pitch count, he went with Ringwald who did not disappoint.
Ringwald, who was brought in during the seventh, garnered the win after pitching 1 1/3 innings and yielding no hits and fanning three of the five baters he faced. Dustin Lauck suffered the hard luck loss in his 1/3 inning of work which saw him strike out one and give up three hits.
While hits were few and far beween with these two pitchers excelling on the mound, Lauck had three hits, scored a run,and one RBI to lead the Commodore offense. For the Bearcats, Youngpeter had two hits and scored twice. Teammate Nolan Ringwald also had two hits and two RBI.
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