Missed opportunities haunt Saxony baseball

The day didn’t go exactly how Saxony Lutheran baseball had planned.
Meadow Heights jumped on the top seed Crusaders from the start and rode that momentum to hand Saxony a 10-3 loss on May 11 in the Class 2, District 3 tournament.
“You have to give Meadow Heights credit, they hit the ball well,” Saxony coach Paul Sander said. “Each team hit the ball well, we just didn’t take advantage of the opportunities.”
Meadow Heights jumped out to a four run lead in the second inning. The scoring began in the top of the second when the Panthers led the inning off with a walk and a single, bringing Trae Yamnitz to the plate with two runners on and one out.
Yamnitz doubled home both runners, giving the Panthers an early 2-0 lead.
After a strikeout, Mason Mayfield ripped a single to centerfield, scoring Yamnitz, and giving Meadow Heights a 3-0 lead. The Panthers added another run on a throwing error to make it 4-0.
“We had two errors in that inning, which didn’t help matters in the inning,” Sander said.
Korby Engert singled and Blake Gaebler doubled, giving the Crusaders runners on second and third with nobody out in the second inning.
The next batter, Reid Bengtson, grounded out, but Engert scored to cut into the Panthers’ lead, making it 4-1.

Blake Gaebler would find his way home courtesy of a passed ball as the Crusaders found themselves within two. Sander felt like the third and fourth innings for his offense were big misses as well.
“We had runners everywhere on the bases and hit into double plays,” he said. “Both balls were hit hard, and they made plays.”
That was problematic for Saxony as Meadow Heights added three more runs in the third to make it 7-2. Saxony added a run in the fourth to pull with 7-3.
The ultimate turning point probably took place in the fifth for Saxony.
James Sparks and David Weinhold both hit routine ground balls that were misfielded, giving the Crusaders runners on first and second with nobody out.
Random Grindstaff, who took over for Braeden Hays in the fourth, got the next two Crusaders’ hitters to pop out and got Korby Engert to ground out to end the inning and work out of the jam.
“We had the meat of our order up,” Sander said. “In that inning we couldn’t get it done. That was probably the difference in the game.
Saxony ended the season at 13-6. Saxony will graduate seven seniors.
“I thought our season was solid and better than most people expected.” Sander said