Lima Locos’ Jack Porter, left, celebrates with teammates after scoring a run against the Michigan Monarchs during Monday’s game at Simmons Field.
The Lima Locos didn’t need a lot of runs and Kaden Arn didn’t need a lot of time in a 4-1 win over the Michigan Monarchs on Monday night at Simmons Field.
The Locos (4-2) disposed of the Monarchs (3-3) in 1 hour, 58 minutes, led by Arn (5 innings, 0 runs allowed, 3 hits) and second baseman Titan Tamaka, who went 2 for 4 and drove in Lima’s first runs of the game with a sixth-inning single.
Arn, a Benjamn Logan High School graduate who plays for Bowling Green State University, found the strike zone on 43 of his 53 pitches. And if he looked like he couldn’t wait to get the ball back from the catcher and throw his next pitch, that was pretty close to the truth.
“I love going as fast as I can. It keeps me locked in. It started when I was 17 or 18, playing summer ball. My coach told me to work quicker and it stuck. I love it. There’s less time to think. Just go.” Arn said.
“My fastball worked really well. The change-up off of that worked well. I hung a couple of curve balls, that’s where the hits came from. But I made an adjustment and started burying them down low and that was effective,” he said.
And what Arn started, Landon Price finished. The left-hander from Lincolnview High School pitched the last four innings, struck out six and got the win.
Price struck out the first three batters he faced in the sixth inning. The Monarchs got their only run of the game in the top of the eighth inning and had runners at second and third base when the game ended.
Price appeared in only three games for a total of two innings at Ohio State this season.
“I’m used to getting a lot of innings in high school ball and coming out here and being able to compete, that’s a blessing. I’ve really enjoyed my experience here so far. It feels really, really good to be back on the mound. That’s for sure,” he said.
Price (1-0) has allowed one earned run and six hits, with eight strikeouts, in nine innings in two appearances for the Locos.
The Locos scored the game’s first two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning when Caleb Edwards Dugan and Jack Porter singled, Connor Ashby’s checked-swing grounder advanced them to second and third and Tamaka singled.’
They added two more in the seventh inning with the help of two hit batters, two walks and a wild pitch.
“That’s where we’ve been struggling so far this season – getting the big hits when we have guys on base. So that was definitely good to see. We didn’t have a lot of baserunners today but we came up with that big hit,” Locos coach Chad Ehnrsberger said.
“Titan has been playing great but that’s kind of what I expected. You don’t start 40 games at Florida State as a freshman without being really good. I’m looking for big things out of Titan this summer,” he said.
