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Timely hits victorious for Kenston
(by Tony Lange - April 05, 2012)
Timely hits victorious for Kenston
By TONY LANGE
The Kenston baseball team started its season 2-0 with game-ending hits in the bottom of the eighth and bottom of the fifth last week before departing on its annual spring-break trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C.
The Bombers beat Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, 10-9, with a four-run, extra-inning comeback. A day later, they beat University School, 11-1, in a fifth-inning mercy rule when Kenston pounded home eight runs.
During the final innings of both games, everyone who stepped up to the plate was getting hits, Kenston head coach Bob Ford said.
“All I know is that, in those innings, we went up, and we pounded the ball pretty hard,” he said. “We just hit the ball really well. Against US, we had nine hits. The game against St. Vincent-St. Mary, we had 13.”
During Kenston’s season opener against SVSM, the game was tied, 6-6, after seven innings before the Bombers took the field in the top of the eighth.
After what was thought to be the third out of a scoreless top half of the inning, the Bombers entered their dugout ready to swing the bat. A controversial call by the umpire, however, reversed a call and brought the Bombers back out onto the field.
“I’ve never seen that before where the team was completely in the dugout, and then we had to go back out,” senior pitcher and first baseman Kyle McKnight said.
Kenston went back out onto the field, and SVSM proceeded to score three runs to take the 9-6 lead before the Bombers got an official third out.
The Bombers were not rattled, Ford said. “The look on our guys was, they were really mad,” he said. “They didn’t like the way things took place there and took it right to the batter’s box with them. It was a pretty awesome display from there.”
Junior Sean O’Connor took one for the team and started the bottom of the eighth by getting hit by a pitch. Sophomore Peter Rozman, senior captain Nick Levine and junior Jacob Carpenter stung together back-to-back-to-back doubles to tie the game.
Senior Michael Rengers then stepped to the plate, and, with one out and an 0-1 count, he singled home Carpenter for the win.
“My approach was to go opposite and just to try to find me a pitch and just hope for a hit,” Rengers said. “I just hit it to right field and got the game winner. Everyone was going crazy. The whole team rushed out onto the field and were mobbing at the plate. It was like we won the championships. It was a rush of excitement.”
Rengers had three hits that game, while Rozman, Carpenter, Levine and senior Ethan Bush all had two. Carpenter and Bush both had three RBIs.
Junior Sherman Kruger got the win on the mound.
The next day against University School, Kenston fell behind, 1-0, after the first inning, but that summed up the Preppers’ scoring as McKnight went on to pitch a five-inning complete game, surrendering only three hits and one walk with nine strikeouts.
“Really this year, it’s just about getting more and more first-pitch strikes and getting outs to help the team win,” said McKnight, who had a 7-1 record for Kenston last season.
The Bombers entered the bottom of the fifth up 3-1 before unleashing the beast. They scored eight runs and ended the game early with an 11-1 run rule.
Carpenter, Rengers and O’Connor had two hits each, while Carpenter, Rengers and senior captain Michael Fearer had two RBIs each.
Following their 2-0 start, the Bombers departed for their Myrtle Beach trip after school last Friday and were scheduled to play eight games in six days this week.
“It’s definitely a time to bond with your teammates. We’re playing some of the best competition down here,” Levine said. “We’re coming off a lot of strong years in the past, and we want to keep that tradition rolling with all these guys so we can hopefully have another successful season.”
The Bombers resume their Ohio schedule against Chagrin Valley Conference opponent Orange at 4:30 p.m. April 10 at Orange High School.
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