Locos Eddy Martinez hits a three-run home run in the first inning that helped Lima to s 10-5 win Wednesday night game against Royal Oak at Simmons Field.
Photo Courtesy of Lili Green.
LIMA — Lima’s Eduarny Martinez is a fan favorite and the Cochise College product might have picked up a few more in the Locos’ 10-5 win Wednesday night against Royal Oak.
Cheered on by a throng of youth players who participated in the Locos’ day camp the past two days, Martinez delivered a three-run home run to highlight a five-run, first inning that established a 5-1 lead and sparked the team’s offensive explosion that resulted in a total of 13 hits.
“We have some really good fans and I am happy about that,” said Martinez, who hit his first dinger of the season. “I really like it here.”
Martinez added that it was nice to get his first home run of the year and said he feels this can be the spark he is looking for as the team enters the meat of the schedule.
“I’m feeling great, thank God,” Martinez said “I am feeling much calmer and playing with more confidence. I thank the people here and the players on the team and my parents. Every day I try to get better.”
Locos manager Chad Ehrnsberger said, “Eddy is someone we expected big things from this summer. He is one of those guys who was trying to do too much, trying to hit homers every time up. You see glimpses of it every game. He may have two good bats out of four.
“He was definitely a favorite at camp and the kids all love him. He is just a good guy and a happy-go-lucky guy and always has a smile on his face and that kind of stuff always goes over well with kids.”
Ehrnsberger said Martinez is settling into his own.
“I have really talked to him about consistency and the last two games he has come out and is just hitting the ball hard. The home run happened to get up in the air and that is the best way to hit home runs is hit line drives and just get under it a little bit. That was huge for us.”
With the win, the Locos extend their win streak to five games as they improve to 9-3 on the season. Royal Oak falls to 4-7 on the year.
This marks the second game this year the Locos have scored in double digits. In the modest run of wins, the Locos have outscored their opponents 42-15.
Also contributing at the plate for the Locos were Mason Sawyer who went 3 for 4 with 2 runs and Aidyn Coffey, who also hit his first home run of the season in the eighth, went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI and a run scored. Anthony Zarlingo drove in two runs and Jack Porter was 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored.
Ehrnsberger pointed out that Martinez is not the only player finding his groove.
“Guys are getting more comfortable and they understand they don’t need to be Superman with the bat. Guys are going up there taking hits and that is all I want them to do; just stay within yourself and get on base and the next guy gets on base and sooner or later that is going to add up for runs instead of trying to hit the three-run home run with no one on base.”
The Locos left 13 men on base in this game which was a problem early in the season but Ehrnsberger admits he didn’t realize they left that many stranded but is not complaining because the team tallied 10 runs.
“It’s hard to complain when you do score 10 runs and have 13 hits but when you leave that many on base it also means you are getting a lot of guys on base. It is going to happen. In every game you are going to leave guys on base and we try to limit it and I thought we did a really good job and didn’t leave that many on.”
Ehrnsberger, who was dealing with a limited staff, watched his trio of arms battle and continually work their way out of tough situations to secure the win.
Locos starter Alex Figueroa opened the game and went four frames, scattering five hits, giving up two earned runs while striking out one and walking three.
The Locos have given up five or more runs three times this year. Brandon Doehne, who picked up the win, tossed two and one-third innings and limited the Leprechauns to two hits, yielding two earned runs while fanning two and walking two. Hudson Parker closed out the game, surrendering one hit while walking three and striking out three in two and two-thirds innings of work.
“Payton Nelson wasn’t able to go for us tonight,” Ehrnsberger said. “We only had three guys for the game.”
The Locos travel Thursday to Royal Oak and then return home Friday and Saturday to play the Leprechauns.
