Control issues plague Ross pitchers as Little Giants fall to Oregon Clay

FREMONT – It all started so well for the Little Giant baseball team Wednesday.

Fremont Ross opened the game with five runs spread over the first innings and looked sharp both at the plate and in the field in the early-going.

But control issues plagued the Little Giants’ pitching staff and Oregon Clay answered by scoring 18 of the game’s next 19 runs, ending the game an inning early with an 18-6 win over Ross.

“I think we’re very comparable teams as far as talent and baseball mechanics go,” said Ross head coach Jared King. “They just executed better than us today on a couple different fronts.”

Noah Hotz led off the game with a triple for the Little Giants and he quickly scored on a wild pitch. Karson Wojdyla later drove in Josiah Cook and Ross led 2-0 after the first inning. The second inning saw Tim Mosser pick up a 2-RBI base hit, followed by a sacrifice RBI by Cook to life Ross to a 5-0 lead after the second inning.

Trailing 5-4 in the top of the fifth, Clay blasted a go-ahead three-run home run, as part of a seven-run inning. The Eagles followed that with another touchdown in the sixth, putting another seven on the scoreboard.

“I think it was a little disheartening,” King said of the momentum-changing home run. “But I felt the kids stayed optimistic. We swung it just as well as they did, if not a little better. I think they had all the confidence in the world they could come back from that. They weren’t down on themselves and continued to still put forth some quality at-bats.”

Ross out-hit Clay 10-8, but the Eagles benefitted from a pair of Ross errors and were able to reach base 11 times on walks while the Little Giants worked just two free passes for first base.

“I still have the utmost confidence in all the (pitchers) we saw today,” King said. “I just think they didn’t finish down through the follow-through and were leaving the ball up, so it was either a ball or right in the wheelhouse. That’s going to come with reps. This is Game 5 and Trey (Ickes) had thrown three of the five games. These guys are just now getting in the rotation. Once that rotation starts going through and they start getting the feel for it, they get to throw regularly, instead of the bullpen, we’ll be alright.”

Luke O’Brien went 3-for-3 at the plate and Caleb Bennison had a pair of hits for the Little Giants.  Cole Druckenmiller started on the mound and struck out eight with two walks in 4.1 innings of work.

The Little Giants (1-4 overall, 0-2 TRAC) return to action Friday when they host Toledo Central Catholic.