FREMONT – Jared King couldn’t ask for anything more from his Ross baseball team.
The Little Giants went toe-to-toe with the TRAC’s top team and proved themselves equal to the task for 12 innings. Add in the teams’ previous meeting on April 18, and the Little Giants and Knights battled for 20 innings over two games with almost nothing separating them.
Despite playing their best baseball of the season, and doing so in pressure situations against top-flight competition, the Little Giants still came up just short.
Friday afternoon, the teams resumed their game from April, tied 3-3 in the top of the ninth inning. The Knights finally broke through in the bottom of the 12th inning for a 4-3 victory. Then, playing their regularly-scheduled game Friday, seven innings again failed to produce a winner. But, like the earlier game, St. Francis found a way to squeak ahead, taking a 2-1 victory in eight innings.
“It’s definitely bittersweet,” King said. “We had multiple opportunities in both games. That is one of the best teams in Northwest Ohio, if not all of Ohio, and to be able to take them on the verge of their breaking point in, not one but two games, it says a lot about these kids and their attitude.”
While Ross’ performance at St. Francis was its best of the season, that game was stopped due to rain after the eighth inning three weeks ago. King knew there was no guarantee his team would pick up where it left off. But soon after his team began taking pregame warm-up, he knew his team was ready to go after the win.
“I’ve been a part of games like this a few times now and there is no situation, I think, more difficult than (resuming a game in extra innings),” King said. “Usually it takes teams an inning or two to settle in, in extras, the slightest mistake and you lose right off the get-go. Usually, that’s what happens when you pick up a suspended game, whether it’s an error or the pitcher’s not in a rhythm yet and you get a couple walks and a hit.
“I told them after we took our pregame infield, that was the most focused I’ve seen them in a few weeks. I had a good feeling and they didn’t let me down. We didn’t get the wins but I’m so proud of that bunch.”
St. Francis put a runner in scoring position with one or no outs in each of the ninth, 10th and 11th innings, each time failing to put the winning run across the plate.
Ross had it best chance to take the win in the top of the 12th. The Little Giants put runners on first and second with no outs, then hit a sacrifice to move them to second and third with one out, but a groundout and flyout ended the Little Giants’ scoring threat.
In the bottom half of the inning, St. Francis once again put a runner into scoring position early in the inning. Finally, a base hit to left field gave the Knights the Game 1 win.
Losing the resumed game, didn’t break Ross’ spirit, however. Nor did seeing St. Francis score in the top of the first inning of Game 2. The Knights’ lead-off hitter reached base and an RBI double by the third batter of the game, put Ross into an early hole, but the Little Giants remained calm.
In the bottom of the third inning, Chandler Ratliff worked a walk. He was later driven home by an RBI double by Cole Druckenmiller to tie the game at 1.
With the score still 1-1, Ross looked on the verge of taking the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Druckenmiller hit safely, followed by a double by Noah Hotz, putting runners on third and second with just one out. A groundout and strikeout, however, followed, ending the inning.
With daylight quickly fading, St. Francis, with a man on first, drilled a pitch into the gap in left-center field for an RBI triple, proving the be the game-winner.
“I have an older group, but I don’t necessarily want to call them experienced because when it comes to winning, we haven’t found ways to win games,” King said. “So just showing the resilience there and keeping their cool, not freaking out or getting too nervous, showed me how much they’ve grown over the year.”
Pitcher Trey Ickes was outstanding on the mound in Game 2. Ickes allowed just five hits and three walks in eight innings while striking out nine.
“He’s been absolutely outstanding his last few outings, especially against these guys,” King said of Ickes. “The first game when we were at their place he struck out 14. They’re one of the best hitting teams in Ohio and have been for the last five years, they always reload when it comes to hitting and he was just dialed in. He never wavered from his approach, he mixed it up and hit his spots and did a phenomenal job.”
The losses drop the Little Giants’ record to 6-14 overall, 2-10 in the TRAC. The victories clinched the league championship for the Knights. The fact his team played the champions so tightly, gives King optimism for Ross’ sectional-opening tournament game Monday at home against Lima Senior.
“I told the kids, use this as a stepping stone, hold your head high. Don’t worry about the loss, take the positives from it. We have our tournament game Monday and apply it elsewhere and it take it to who we have next.”
2024-25 Bowling: Boys Team
| Name | Grade |
|---|---|
| Alekzander Albrecht | 10 |
| Donovan Ayres | 10 |
| Canaan Bower | 10 |
| William Eastham | 12 |
| Aidyn Goatee | 09 |
| Adin Guerra | 10 |
| Zayne Jacobs | 10 |
| A.J. Kelser | 12 |
| Nicholas Lindenberger | 11 |
| Mario Marquez | 09 |
| Michael McKeen II | 10 |
| Robert Moreno Jr. | 12 |
| Adrian Ontiveros | 12 |
| Reece Sawdo | 09 |