EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The slate was wiped clean and then marked with a giant "W."
On Friday evening, the Goshen baseball team won their season opener 8-7 against Oakland City. It is the first season opener win for the Maple Leafs since 2016. The Mighty Oaks took game two by a score of 13-2. The games were played at the University of Evansville.
Joshua Rubio had the first hit of the season for the Leafs with his single in the third.
Char Reeves singled on a bunt in the same inning, but Goshen left runners at second and third. The Mighty Oaks scored an unearned run on a throwing error in the bottom half of the inning to take a 1-0 lead.
The Leafs were quick to respond.
Peyton Smith got on base from a fielding error and scored on a wild pitch to tie it.
Camm Nickell hit a single and advanced two bases from wild pitches.
Nate Lange hit a triple to center field with two outs in the inning, scoring Nickell. Lange would later score from third on a passed ball, and Goshen led 3-1. But the best was yet to come.
Goshen added five runs in the fifth inning. Reeves scored from a wild pitch, and
Jenner Rodammer came home when Nickell walked. After a pitching change,
Trent Sillett scored after a second straight walk. Then, with the bases still loaded, Lange singled through the left side to score
Gabe Kermode and Smith. Goshen led 8-1. The Maple Leafs had five runs and nine batters step up to the plate in the fifth inning.
Nickell got the start for Goshen and pitched five innings while allowing four hits and no earned runs. He threw five strikeouts and had two walks. "Camm had a great day for us and put us in a position to win game one with a quality start," said head coach
Alex Childers.
Oakland City wasn't going away without a fight, though. They scored four runs on four hits in the sixth to cut the deficit to three. Goshen didn't score in the seventh, so the Mighty Oaks would need three runs in the bottom half to tie it. They got two runs from a Goshen fielding error, but a pop-up with runners on first and second ended the game, and the Leafs escaped with an 8-7 victory.
"It's always good to start the season off in the win column," shared Childers. "Our youth really showed at times today, but we had some upperclassmen step up in some key spots."
Nickell earned the win, and
Benjamin Witterstaetter picked up the save after an inning and a third of work. Lange finished the game going 2-4 with a single, a triple, three RBIs, and a run scored. In addition to his work on the mound, Nickell had a multi-hit game going 2-3 with an RBI and a run.
Goshen was on the board first in the second game. Nickell continued his excellent day with a single down the left-field line that scored Smith. Oakland City would score four runs in the third, partly due to Goshen errors. The Leafs answered in the fourth with a run by
Austin Bontrager to cut the lead to 3-2.
The score would stay that way until the Mighty Oaks opened the floodgates in the bottom of the sixth. Oakland City poured on ten runs from six hits and two Maple Leafs errors. GC couldn't score in the seventh, and the home team took game two, 13-2.
Jack Bennett picked up the loss for Goshen. In 2 1/3 innings, he allowed one earned run, three unearned runs, and three hits.
Dalton Soergel didn't give up any runs in his 1 1/3 inning on the mound. Nickell finished the day with four hits in seven at-bats. Smith went 2-4 in game two with a double and a run scored.
"We have a lot to work on, but this group will continue to grow and learn and get better," Childers said.
The games set to take place on Saturday have been canceled due to Friday night's rain and the cold.
