Oh mercy
Even numbers tend to pump up the team at bat, and are often killers for the team on defense – four balls means take your base, a grand slam equals four runs on the scoreboard, and in high school baseball a 10 run advantage after four innings “mercifully” means the game is over.
Unfortunately for second-year West Holmes head coach Kurt McDowell and the Knights, that killer number 10 ended their season-opener at Ohio Cardinal Conference rival Wooster, Tuesday, March 29, as Generals pinch-hitter Brenner Lewis smacked a bases loaded single off of West Holmes reliever Taylor Owen, into the right-center gap, plating third baseman Mike Eisel with the run that put the home team in front 13-3, bringing the game to an end in the fifth inning.
“We just proved to ourselves that if we’re not mentally prepared, we’re not going to beat anybody,” McDowell said after watching his team squander two early leads, as the Knights struck first in the top of the first when shortstop Steve Thomas laced a double off of Generals starter Luke McGee, scoring on Joey Gonzalez’s RBI single two batters later, as the centerfielder made solid contact in his first at bat since having surgery to repair torn knee ligaments suffered prior to the West Holmes football season this past fall.
But the Generals would answer with two in the bottom of the first, as Knights sophomore lefty Gabe Snyder walked Generals leadoff man Zach Ellsworth, who moved to third on Devin Daugherty’s double, out of the number two hole, between Gonzalez and Mason James in deep left-center.
They both scored later in the inning as Ellsworth came across the plate on a fielder’s choice grounder to Thomas from Generals second baseman Tyler Etter, and Daugherty scampered home from third when Knights catcher Cody Dial threw the ball down the line on a pickoff attempt of Etter at first.
But the Knights bounced right back, answering with two more in the top of inning number two and reclaiming the lead, as Eisel committed two errors in the inning at third base for the Generals, allowing West Holmes right fielder Garrett Mackey and second baseman Vayden Wood to score separately.
The Generals would commit a total of six errors throughout the game behind McGee, but the junior southpaw worked around the mistakes, shutting down the Knights the rest of the way, allowing only four hits over five innings, striking out four and picking up the win for first-year Wooster head coach Derek Boyd, making his debut in blue-and-gold.
“It wasn’t pretty,” said Boyd afterward. “I’d like to do some things differently defensively but I give Luke a lot of credit. He battled through some adversity when we weren’t making plays behind him. He kept throwing strikes and kept us in the ball game. But that’s what I expect out of a kid in his third year.”
Snyder’s day on the mound would be over after just two innings, as the 6-foot-3-inch lefty allowed three runs in the bottom-half, plating Generals designated hitter Evan Bahler by plunking Eisel with a pitch in a bases loaded situation, and surrendering a two-run single to his counterpart on the mound, McGee.
After watching McGee pick up his second and third strikeouts in the top of the third, Owen set down Bahler looking in the bottom, working an easy inning and facing just four batters to keep the Knights within two runs at 5-3.
But after McGee held West Holmes in check during the top of the fourth, everything fell apart for the Knights in the bottom-half as 10 batters came to the plate for Wooster and six scored, thanks to another two-run single by McGee, an RBI base hit from leftfielder Nick Buckingham, a bases-loaded walk, a throwing error by Wood and a wild pitch from Owen, who would combine with Snyder to walk seven Generals batters, while hitting three and uncorking three wild pitches.
“We talked about being mentally ready, we just weren’t,” reiterated McDowell after the game. “Whether it was nerves or whatever, for the first game of the year, they’ve all played baseball before, it’s still the same game. When we give up a walk, we’ve got to make plays behind him the next time and we didn’t do that.”
With West Holmes down 11-3 heading into the bottom of the fifth, Wooster would end the game without making another out, as Daugherty led off and reached second on a two-base throwing error by Thomas, scoring on a solid single up the middle by Eisel, who took second on Gonzalez’s throw home, moved to third on a wild pitch from Owen, and scored the mercy run on Brenner’s pinch-single.
“An OCC win is always good, especially against a good team like West Holmes,” said McGee after battling for the win. “Hopefully we don’t let up tomorrow and battle like we did today,” he added as the Knights and Generals were set to battle again on Wednesday, March 30, at West Holmes.
Said McDowell, “The only thing we can take from this is, we get a fresh start tomorrow.”
To read the complete story about the West Holmes rematch against Wooster on Wednesday, March 30, check us out online at http://www.HolmesCountyJournal.com and pick up a copy f the Holmes Bargain Hunter on Monday, April 4.
Published: March 29, 2011
