Minster baseball wins in extra innings Monday night.
MINSTER — It wasn’t a perfect 10, but it was a winning one.
Minster fell behind early Monday, then rallied for a 7-6 win in 10 innings over Covington in a non league baseball matchup.
Each team got on the board early, with Minster getting two runs in the first and second, while Covington put up five in the second.
Covington got an additional run in the fourth. Minster finally broke through in the sixth with a pair to tie it.
After 3 1/2 innings of back and forth, a hit by Luke Ripploh with the bases loaded and two outs in the 10th drove in Johnny Nixon with the winning run.
Eli Rindler, who pitched the final two innings for Minster, got the win. He did not give up a hit or walk.
Logan Tumbusch left in the second inning. He allowed five runs on four hits and five walks. Zach Fortman pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowing one run on five hits. Nixon pitched the seventh and eighth, allowing two hits.
Avery Rench started and pitched 5 2/3 innings for the Bucs. He allowed six runs on eight hits, with three walks and three strikeouts. Cooper Jay pitched 3 1/3, giving up two hits and three walks. Jake Dilley pitched the 10th, and gave up the run that ended it.
The Wildcats had 14 hits in the game, with four by Adam Ketner and three by Eric Schmidt. Kody Richard and Brady Heitkamp each drew two walks.
Justin Nixon and Johnny Nixon drove in two runs each, while Ketner, Ripploh, and Heitkamp had the other RBIs.
Cooper Jay and Wes Gooding had three hits each for Covington.
Covington loaded the bases to start the game with a single by Jay, and walks to Kody Nelson and Jensen Wagoner. But Tumbusch avoided further trouble. He got a strikeout. The third strike got away briefly. Jay tried to score but was tagged out, and a groundout ended the inning.
Schmidt drew a walk to start the Minster lineup. With Schmidt running, Ketner singled to right-center, and Schmidt was able to make it over to third. A wild pitch then allowed Ketner to get into scoring position as well.
Minster cashed in as a fly ball by Johnny Nixon was caught, but was deep enough to allow Schmidt to tag and score. Justin Nixon then followed with a single on the left edge of the infield, bringing Ketner across to make it 2-0.
Tumbusch issued a walk, then hit the second batter. David Robinson singled to center, scoring Jay. After a groundout, Nelson walked to load the bases. A infield single by Wagoner and a walk to Jakob Hamilton each resulted in a run.
Gooding singled to center. Nelson scored on the hit, and a subsequent mishandling of the ball allowed Wagoner to go home as well.
Minster then brought in Fortman, who got a strikeout for the third out. Richard singled to lead off the home half. He moved up on a bad pickoff throw and a balk, then tagged up and scored on a flyout by Heitkamp. Schmidt hit a ball on the ground, with the first baseman having to go to his right, and Schmidt hustled down the line to beat the throw. After he stole second, a double to right by Ketner brought him around to make it a onerun game, 5-4.
Each team left one man aboard in the third, In the top of the fourth, Wagoner reached safely when his popup was not caught. Hamilton singled to center to give the Bucs a 6-4 lead.
Minster loaded the bases in the bottom half, using an error, a walk, and an outstanding bunt single to the third-base side by Schmidt. But Covington was able to escape the jam, getting a force out at the plate, then a foul pop out and a strikeout.
The fifth was scoreless, with Covington leaving two aboard and Minster going down in order.
Ripploh made a nice sliding catch for the second out in the sixth, and Covington’s lead stayed at two.
Heitkamp got things going with an infield single. Two batters later, Ketner singled to center. Johnny Nixon sent one into left, scoring Heitkamp.
Covington then handed the pitching duties to Jay. Justin Nixon sent one shooting down the third-base line for what proved to be a double that tied the game at 6. Jay then got a groundout to end the frame
Nixon took the hill for Minster, and allowed just a one-out single. Minster then put two on in the home half on a single and intentional walk, but couldn’t get anything further.
Both sides went quickly in the eighth. Moving to the ninth, Rindler hit the first batter he faced. After getting a popup, a grounder by Jay went to third and was relayed around the horn for an inning-ending double play.
An infield single and two walks loaded the bases for the Wildcats in the bottom half with two outs. A pitch got briefly away from the Covington catcher. Rindler broke for the plate but was tagged out on a close play, and the game continued.
Rindler retired the first batter on a liner. He hit the next man, but came right back. He got Hamilton on a swing-and-miss, then the catcher fired to second in time for another double play.
Schmidt led off the 10th by beating the throw after a grounder to shortstop. A pitch in the the dirt moved hime to second. Ketner then popped up a bunt attempt, but the ball was not able to be caught by a diving Dilley. Covington then elected to put Johnny Nixon aboard, loading the bases.
Justin Nixon tagged a ball into left, which was caught. Schmidt tagged up and tried to beat the throw back to the plate, but was unsuccessful. Another ball that went just beyond the mound on the infield grass put Rindler on and re-loaded the bases.
A couple of pitches later, Ripploh sent the game-winner into left and the Wildcats celebrated near first base.
Minster will be back in action today as they will host Delphos St. John’s at 5 p.m.