The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Shoremen slide past Eagles with late rally
Avon Lake’s McKinley throws complete game; strikes out six in win over Avon
Outside of the opening batter of the game and a three hitter stretch in the middle of the fifth inning, Avon Lake starter Kevin McKinley was squarely in control on the mound at Mercy Health Stadium in Avon on April 17.
The Shoremen senior threw a complete game and struck out six in a 3-1 win for Avon Lake over rival Avon, in a game between two of the Southwestern Conference’s top contenders. The win moves Avon Lake a game ahead of the Eagles in the SWC at 5-1 in the conference and 7-3 overall.
The loss sends Avon to 4-2 in conference and 7-5 overall.
“The biggest thing for us as a staff with Kevin is we want him to be in control,” Avon Lake head coach Andrew Means said. “I think sometimes he thinks too much and he tries to do too much. But Kevin is a great pitcher and we know that, so he came out here today and showed everybody that.”
McKinley allowed the first Avon batter of the day, center fielder Gavin Ehrhardt, to reach base on a walk.
The Eagles then played some small ball as Ehrhardt was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from George Berki, before stealing third.
Ehrhardt then scored on an RBI groundout from shortstop Troy Sudbrook to put Avon up by a run in the opening frame.
That lead lasted until the sixth inning as Eagles’ starter Ryan Starr cruised through the Avon Lake lineup twice before the Shoremen made their move. Starr pitched a complete game, like his counterpart, striking out five hitters and allowing just three hits.
“I thought our guys played really well and Ryan threw a great game out on the mound, but a couple of plays here and there go the other way and it’s a different ballgame,” Avon head coach Craig Kirschner said.
Avon was a hit away from breaking the game open in the fifth as they loaded the bases with nobody out on McKinley. Back to back singles from Starr and Karl Wearsch opened the inning before an intentional walk of Jack Pogorelc put Eagles at every base.
McKinley responded with two strikeouts of Avon’s nine and one hitters before inducing a ground ball to his shortstop Aidan Grabowski to get out of the jam.
“We felt really good with where our hitters were at,” Kirschner said. “We were hitting the ball and we felt really confident in the approaches they were taking at the plate and we thought that those balls would start to drop. So that was a tough spot having the bases loaded with nobody out and not scoring any, but that’s the game of baseball.”
The Avon Lake offense did the same to Starr in the sixth, loading the bases with nobody out. But after an RBI single from Dominic Poltrone tied the game at one, a costly error put Avon Lake ahead for good.
“That was huge, I know that I have the best defense in the SWC behind me so it was great to have them. They really helped me out today,” McKinley said. “(the offense emerging in the sixth) gave me a ton of confidence, I really wanted to finish that game after that. Avon is a great team, but we were just the better team today.”
McKinley came back in the seventh striking out a pair after the tying run reached base in the form of Ehrhardt after a two-out walk.
The two sides will face off again in five days, this time with the Shoremen hosting Avon on April 22.