ACME BASEBALL … Cade Carlin comes off the mound to field a ball in the Golden Bears 5-4 win over Wauseon. (PHOTO BY RICH HARDING / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
By: Daniel Cooley
BRYAN (JUNE 16, 2023) – The situation grew tense for Bryan in the top of the seventh inning. Bryan’s closing pitcher Lazarus Lane had just walked two straight batters with two outs, the second with the bases loaded, to cut Bryan’s lead to 5-4. That prompted the second mound visit of the inning from coach Jacob Spiess.
“I was obviously frustrated by the (balls and strikes) calls and coach asked me if I wanted to stay in,” Lane said. “I told him I can get this guy out.”
Lane threw a changeup and the Wauseon batter flied out to the Bryan right fielder, for the final out of the game.
Lane earned a save in the win, going the final three innings. He allowed one run on two hits, while striking out three and walking three.
“This was a bounce back win for us, after losing four straight games,” Spiess said. “Both our pitchers pitched well, and we got out of a jam in the last inning.”
“Hitting wise, Kohl Batt got us a run on a squeeze play. We just brought up Carter Luce from the junior varsity and he knocked in a key run for us with a sacrifice fly.”
Wauseon struck early, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning on an RBI single by Xavier Martinez.
Bryan came right back in the bottom of the second inning to tie the game at 1-1, on Batt’s sacrifice fly. The Golden Bears then took a 3-1 lead in the third inning on Cole Uran’s two-run single.
Wauseon came roaring back to tie the game at 3-3, with two runs in the top of the fourth inning. Brady Miller led off the inning with a single and then scored on a Bryan error.
Next, Max Russell, who had walked, scored from third base on a throw to second base, that caught Martinez trying to steal.
The Bryan second baseman then tried to throw home to get Russell, but the throw was not in time.
Bryan then scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, without the benefit of a hit. The Bears took advantage of two Wauseon errors, with both Noah Huard and Damien Wolfe reaching base on errors.
After a walk loaded the bases, Batt’s suicide squeeze to the first baseman brought Huard home. Wolfe then scored Bryan’s fifth run on Luce’s sacrifice fly.
In the top of the seventh inning, Wauseon looked to be in business, putting runners at second and third with no outs. Martinez was hit by a pitch and then advanced to third base on Caleb Kissel’s double. But Bryan’s Lane then got a strikeout and a line out to the Bryan first baseman, for the second out.
Mason Thomas then walked, and Braylon Miller followed with a walk, to bring in Wauseon’s fourth run.
Wauseon left a runner stranded in scoring position at second base in both the fourth and fifth innings and then left the bases loaded in the seventh inning.
“We’ve got to learn to get better at situational hitting,” said Wauseon coach Sam Krasula. “We’ve got to know to move guys up an extra base for the next hitter, instead of trying to hit doubles and (instead, making outs and not advancing the runners).”
WAUSEON 010 200 1 – 4 6 3
BRYAN 012 200 X – 5 4 3
Records: Wauseon 6-2, Bryan 6-5
WINNING PITCHER: Carlin (4 innings, 3 runs, 1 earned, 4 hits, 4 strikeouts, 4 walks) Other: Lane
LOSING PITCHER: Rodriguez (5 innings, 5 runs, 3 earned, 4 hits, 6 strikeouts, 3 walks) Other: Schneider
LEADING HITTERS: (Wauseon) Rodriguez – 2 singles; Kissel – double; (Bryan) – Uran – singles, 2 RBIs; Batt – 2 RBIs
Dan can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com