Minster baseball falls to Roughriders

MINSTER — A big inning changes everything.

That was the case Saturday as St. Marys fell behind, then regained the lead and hung on for a 5-4 win over Minster in non-league action at the Melcher Street Park.

Each team scored a run in the third. Minster's Johnny Nixon, who was also the starting pitcher, got a two-run single in the fourth. St. Marys answered with four runs in its next at-bat, then kept the Wildcats to just one run the rest of the day.

Ty Kiehl pitched five-plus innings to get the win for the Roughriders. He allowed five hits, walked four and struck out seven. Dylan Trogdlon worked two innings, with no hits and no walks.

Nixon went the distance for the Wildcats, allowing five hits and two walks. He recorded seven strikeouts.

At the top of the order, Adam Tobin had two hits, and Tanner Howell had one, with each driving in two runs. Drew Dammeyer and Tanner Howell provided power with doubles at the bottom of the lineup.

For Minster, Justin Nixon had an RBI single. Zach Fortman, Luke Ripploh and Leland Frick also had hits.

Manager Adam Graves of St. Marys pointed to the fifth as key in giving them a cushion. "Both sides pitched well," he said. He noted that Kiehl was tiring, and Trogdlon, who has not pitched a lot, "provided great senior leadership in that situation."

Minster manager Mike Wiss noted that baseball is sometimes "about the mental side of the game." He added that "I'm happy with how they have grown this season. We always give ourselves a chance. The goal is to continue to get better every day."

Both pitchers worked quickly through the first, as did Nixon in the top of the second. In the bottom of the second, Ripploh got a single and moved to second on a groundnut. Kody Richard then drew a walk. A popup to first base ended the inning.

St. Marys got its first baserunner to start the third when Brayden Sullivan reached on an error. Two groundouts allowed him to advance over to third. Tobin hit a slow grounder on left side of the infield grass, and beat the throw, with Sullivan putting the Riders on the board.

WIht one out in the home half, Adam Ketner was hit by a pitch. He stole second, then came around to score on Justin Nixon's single to shallow center. Fortman then also singled, but a strikeout kept it tied at 1.

MInster came back up in the fourth and leadoff man Nathan Oldiges

walked. Kiehl struck out the next two batters, then loaded the bases by hitting Schmidt and walking Ketner. Nixon smacked the first pitch up the middle into center, scoring Oldiges and Schmidt. A flyout prevented any further damage.

The bottom of the order for St. Marys proved productive as Sulivan walked, Dammeyer doubled to left-center, and Kiehl walked to fill the bases with no outs. Tobin singled to right, plating Sullivan. A wild pitch allowed Dammeyer to score the tying run, and the other runners to advance.

Howell then knocked a pitch into the right field corner, giving the Riders a 5-3 lead. He took third on the relay throw. Nixon got a strikeout, and after a hit batter, got Braedan Trogdlon to bounce into a double play.

In the Minster sixth, Kiehl gave up a single to pinch-hitter Frick and walked Brady Heitkamp before yielding the mound to Dylan Trogdlon. With one out, two wild pitches allowed the runners to advance, then let Richard (who had reentered) to score and make it 5-4.

A groundout out ended the inning and kept the Riders in the lead.

After St. Marys left one aboard in the top half, Minster came up. Justin Nixon grounded out, Fortman hit a liner that was snared by Kiehl at first, and Trogdlon then got Ripploh on strikes to end it.

St. Marys (3-5 WBL, 11-9 overall) will host Fort Recovery on Tuesday. They then have contests with Van Wert on Friday and Coldwater on May 18.

Minster (4-3 MAC, 9-9 overall) finishes the regular season at Lincolnview on Thursday.