JACKSON – Junior centerfielder Korby Engert drove in 5 runs on 4 hits to lead Saxony Lutheran to a 15-2 victory over St. Vincent on April 8.
Engert hit RBI singles in each of the first four innings and finished 4-for-4 on the day with 5 RBI and 3 runs scored. As a team, the Crusaders (4-4) finished with 16 hits in 28 at-bats, all singles.
St. Vincent coach Corey Sauer summed up the game quite simply.
“Not much to say,” Sauer said. “They singled us to death.”
St. Vincent starter Nick Buchheit took the loss after giving up 10 runs, 9 earned, on 10 hits in 2 1/3 innings of work. The senior struck out 2 and walked 2.
Sauer said Buchheit didn’t perform badly, but the Crusaders simply had his number.
“I guess it just looked like a beach ball,” Sauer said. “They made a lot of contact. It wasn’t long contact, but they made a lot of it.”
Reliver Cole Roth didn’t have an easy time either, giving up 5 earned runs on 6 hits with 1 strikeout and 1 walk in 1 2/3 innings of work.
“We kind of came out of our shell a little bit,” said Saxony coach Paul Sander. “We've really struggled early, consistently with our offense, and we thought we had better hitters than we were showing, but we weren't getting very many results. [Against St. Vincent], it just kind of all exploded at the same time. I think we had one guy with four hits and about five guys with two hits.
“They just came out of whatever funk they were in and hit 16.”
The Indians (4-3) scored both of their runs in the second inning, thanks to a series of mishaps from the Crusaders, who took a 3-0 lead in the first. Gavin Hotop started things off with a leadoff single then moved to second on a passed ball. Jacob Seabaugh was hit by a pitch, sending him to first. Both runners advance on an error, then Hotop scored on another error, leaving Seabuagh on third and Tyler Henneman on second.
Gus Unterreiner grounded into a fielder’s choice and Seabaugh scored, making it 3-2. The Indians wouldn’t score again.
“We got three in the 1st, and they did come back with two in the second,” Sander said. “We got out of a tough jam in the second where they could have taken the lead, but then we got out of it, and we came right back with three more. That kind of set the tone there when it was 6-2.
“They're a very good team and they just caught us on a day where we were hitting the ball really well.”
Sander especially praised Engert’s performance, but also pointed to the success of the rest of the lineup at the plate.
“What I liked about our approach yesterday at the plate was we've been working on trying to take balls on the outer half of the plate and go with that pitch and hit the ball the other way,” Sander said. “And I think out of our 16 hits, at least half of them were balls hit the other way. We'd sure like for that to continue with our players recognizing the pitch and being able to hit it where it's pitched.
“Korby, three of his four hits were hit to the opposite field, so he certainly had a day of recognizing the pitch over the outer half of the plate.”
Saxony starter Zach Roth earned the win after 3 1/3 innings of work, giving up 2 runs, 1 earned, on 3 hits, striking out 8 and walking 3. Cole Roth finished out the game in relief, striking out 1 in 1 2/3 innings.
“[Zach’s] command wasn't as good as it was the first two games, but it was still effective,” Sander said.. He struck out eight, but he didn't walk four or five. He got up in pitch count and was only able to go 3 1/3, but then Cole Roth, our junior pitcher, came in and threw extremely effectively. He only threw 16 pitches in 1 2/3 innings. He did a really nice job in relief to finish it out.”
Sauer said there were still a few bright spots in the game for the Indians, pointing especially to the team’s performance at the bottom of the lineup.
“They did a great job,” Sauer said. “They did what they were supposed to do.”
As for the loss, Sauer said it was just one of those things.
“That’s baseball,” he said. “You come in hot at 4-2, playing game after game after game and then it rains and break that momentum. That’s just baseball.”
St. Vincent was scheduled to host the Chaffee Red Devils on Monday, then travel to Herculaneum on Tuesday. Saxony Lutheran was scheduled to travel to Ellington on Monday, then host East Carter on Tuesday and Kelly on Wednesday.
