The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Team cuts veteran DT Sheldon Richardson
The Shoremen jumped out to an early 4-0 lead after batting through their entire lineup in the top of the first inning. While Kenston would respond in the bottom of the first to make it 4-2, nobody would plate a runner again until the sixth inning.
While the Shoremen performed well on the defensive end, the final two innings saw the Bombers score three runs,
including a sac fly to win the game 5-4.
Both teams now sit at 6-3 on the season.
The first inning saw the Avon Lake bats come to life. Aiden Grabowski had an RBI triple to get things started for the Shoremen. RBI hits by Cullen Reutter and Nicholas Kemer would make it 4-0 before Kenston had a chance to bat.
But after the first frame that saw them have 6 hits, the Avon Lake bats fell dormant, only recording 2 more hits the rest of the game. The struggles to get the ball in play weren’t for lack of effort, as coach Andrew Means explains. Rather they just couldn’t find their way into the gaps like before.
“A couple balls were dropping into holes that they had out there,” said Means. “Later they made some changes and the balls stopped dropping and things weren’t going our way.”
Despite the Shoremen bats going quiet, the Kenston bats followed suit, and what followed was four straight innings of good defensive work from both sides. While there would be occasional base runners from time to time, both teams were able to avoid any damage from more runs, and as Coach Means explains it, that kept Avon Lake in the game.
“We played some really solid defense,” said Means. “While they were hitting the ball really well, we were able to make some plays that were able to keep us in the game.”
While the Avon Lake defense was able to keep up with the Kenston bats, the Bombers were able to get things going in the sixth thanks to a pair of RBIs by Nikko Georgiou and Bennett Ives would tie the game.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh with one out Jake Vasil would hit a sacrifice fly to center field that was deep enough for Ryan Gilbert to tag up from third base to win the game for Kenston.
“Gilbert is extremely fast on the bases,” said Kenston coach Bob Ford. “So we were confident in having him steal second right away and not having to bunt him over to have him in scoring position early on. Jake got it out just far enough for him to get home.”
Kenston will look to make it 6 wins in a row when they take on non conference opponent Louisville on the same day. Meanwhile, Avon Lake will next take the diamond against Southwestern Conference foe and crosstown rival Avon on the same date.