WINONA LAKE, Ind. – In stark contrast from Friday's games, the Goshen baseball team found much more offensive firepower on Saturday at Grace. However, the Lancers did too, and they won 16-12 and 13-11.
Game one was a tale of two halves. And while the temperature outside got warmer, the bats did too.
Tied at one after three innings, the Goshen bats started to erupt. In the fourth,
Jenner Rodammer scored off a wild throw, and the Leafs took a 2-1 lead. Later in the inning,
Joseph Cerda hit a double to deep right field that scored
Trent Sillett and
Morgan Baker. In the fifth,
Peyton Smith hit a two-run home run to deep left on a 1-1 count that brought in Rodammer as well. Goshen was up 6-1.
The Maple Leafs tacked four more in the sixth to take a 10-1 advantage.
Nate Lange was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and Cerda scored. Rodammer hit a dribbler down the first baseline with the bases loaded and wasn't tagged, and the throw home was wild, and
Joshua Rubio and
Char Reeves scored. Smith singled later in the inning that brought Lange home.
Goshen appeared to be in a stable position, but the Lancers weren't done yet.
Dalton Soergel had only allowed one run through his first five innings, but Grace scored six in the bottom of the sixth. Most notable was a double down the right-field line from Jeff Pawlik that scored two. Soergel ended his day after 5.2 innings, allowing six earned runs and six hits.
Grace continued the onslaught in the seventh with six more runs. Austin Carr hit a two-run shot to left, and Chris Griffin brought in two with his double to center. Smith had a two-RBI single in the top of the eighth to pull Goshen within one, but the Lancers added a few more in the bottom half and won 16-12.
Smith finished the game hitting 4-5 with a home run and five RBIs. Cerda was 2-4 with a double, a run, and two RBIs.
The offense continued for both teams in game two. Grace scored in each of the first six innings. Goshen had big innings in the second and third.
In the first inning, the Lancers had three separate singles that brought in three runs. But Goshen took a 5-3 lead after they were up to bat in the second. The first Maple Leafs run came from a double by Lange to deep left-center that scored Cerda and Reeves. Then, Smith had his second home run of the day with a three-run blast to deep left on the first pitch he saw in the at-bat. Lange and Rodammer scored.
After Grace added a run in the bottom half, Lange had a single to right that brought in
Evan Creager and Cerda. Smith singled later in the inning, and Reeves came home, making it 7-4 in Goshen's favor.
The difference came when the Lancers scored seven runs in their next three innings while Goshen couldn't capitalize in the fourth and fifth. The home team led 11-8 when Creager cut the deficit with a two-run home run to center in the sixth, scoring Baker. In the sixth, Grace added two more runs, and Smith had another RBI from a sacrifice fly in the seventh. But the Lancers held on to win 13-11.
In game two, Smith had five RBIs for Goshen, going 2-4 with a home run. He finished the day with six hits in nine attempts between the games, two home runs, and ten RBIs. This season, Smith has three home runs, and GC has eight as a team.
Lange was 3-4 with a double and four RBIs. Rodammer went 3-4 as well.
Eric Pettipiece had the start for Goshen, throwing four innings and allowing seven earned runs with three strikeouts. For Grace, Bret Wilhelmi earned the win by allowing three earned runs over the final 4.2 innings.
The teams combined for nine runs on Friday but a whopping 52 on Saturday. There were 21 hits on Friday and 54 between Saturday's games.
Grace improves to a .500 record, now sitting at 8-8. Goshen falls to 4-10 overall and 1-3 in the Crossroads League. Goshen plays at Saint Francis on Friday, March 11, and Saturday, March 12, with doubleheaders starting at 1:00 pm on both days.
