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The St. Marys dugout celebrates after Joel Kogge (center) scored against Wapakoneta in the third inning at K.C. Geiger Park on Friday.
ST. MARYS - Both starters struggled with command on Friday, but Joel Kogge limited the damage while St. Marys made Wapakoneta's Taylor Echols pay.
The Roughriders scored four runs in the third inning thanks to three walks and a pair of errors, and Kasey Gross kept the No. 4 team in Division II scoreless the last four innings as St. Marys earned a 7-4 Western Buckeye League win at K.C. Geiger Park.
"Playing Wapak, you're playing a state-ranked team, one of the top teams in the state of Ohio," St. Marys coach Adam Graves said. "They play an awesome schedule, and it was great for us to come away with this win."
Trailing 4-3 going into the third, St. Marys (5-7, 2-2 WBL) got a leadoff single from Brayden Sullivan before he was cut down in a fielder's choice. But Echols started to miss the zone, walking Ethan Hollandsworth on a full count before four straight balls to Jace Turner loaded the bases.
Kogge fought through seven pitches and Echols fired the eighth way high and outside, walking in the tying run.
"We've got to have competitive at-bats," Graves said. "Especially when we've got a couple big hits there, we had a couple of times when we were down in the count. Then we talk about, 'When you've got two strikes on you, you're fighting for us. It's not a time to be greedy and fight for yourself. You've got to fight for us.'"
A.J. Dieringer hit a slow grounder, Turner leapt over it in the basepath and shortstop Grant Jolly booted it, allowing Hollandsworth to score and everyone else to reach safely.
Jack Boos followed with a dribbler to third, and Kaden Moore's throw home skittered away as Turner and Kogge scored to make it 7-4.
"Six errors behind your starting pitcher isn't going to give you any leeway," Wapakoneta coach Jason Brandt said. "Then you have to be almost perfect."
"You're going to have errors, I get that," he went on. "It's high school baseball. But you can't have six errors. We haven't been fielding the ball well all week, infield or outfield. We've made our pitchers throw way too many pitches. It all came to a head today when that happened."
Kogge trotted back to the mound in the fourth despite throwing 64 pitches over the first three innings, and he hit Echols before inducing a groundout to short. After a four-pitch walk, including a wild pitch that sent Echols to third, Graves decided to go to the bullpen.
Gross came in from third and struck out Austin West before Ryan Price grounded out to end the inning.
"Kasey Gross, man, for a freshman, he is just stepping up anywhere we put him," Graves said.
St. Marys got the leadoff hitter on in its final three trips to the plate but couldn't add on as Wapakoneta (7-2, 2-1 WBL) got a strong relief outing from Ryan Camper. Camper stranded Sullivan at second in the fourth, got a strikeout and a pop-up to leave two runners on in the fifth, and after Sullivan was caught stealing in the sixth, Camper survived a two-out walk to keep the lead at three.
But Gross matched him, striking out the side in the fifth and pitching around a one-out single in the sixth. In the seventh, Gross walked West and Alex Lewis to bring the tying run to the plate with one out, but Mason Ludwig struck out and Camper hit a slow ground ball to Dieringer at short to end the game.
St. Marys shortstop A.J. Dieringer throws to first as Wapakoneta's Taylor Echols looks on in the fourth inning at K.C. Geiger Park on Friday.
"Hats off to them," Brandt said. "Their pitchers threw strikes, their pitchers battled all night long, and they made the plays when they had to."
Another Redskins error got the Roughriders started in the first, as a high bounce on Moore put Easton Craft on first. Sullivan followed with a single to left, and with two outs and two strikes, Hollandsworth shortened up his swing and poked a two-run single up the middle.
Ludwig doubled in the top of the second to put two runners in scoring position, and Kogge hit the next two batters to bring a run in before Zac Niekamp tied it up with a sacrifice fly.
Echols uncorked a pair of wild pitches in the bottom half to move Dieringer from first to third and Jack Boos brought him home with a groundout to second. But in the top of the third, the Redskins started to hit Kogge, with three straight singles scoring a pair of runs.
Price hit into a fielder's choice at second, Lewis worked a 13-pitch walk, and after a strikeout, Kogge hit Camper for the second time to load the bases. Niekamp sent a fly ball into deep left-center, but Caleb Felver made a leaping catch to end the inning.
"From a pitching standpoint, it's about changing speeds and hitting your spots," Graves said. "Joel did a pretty good job changing speeds. He got in trouble a little bit when he wasn't getting ahead early in the count, but when he settled in and got ahead early, he did well."
Felver also made a diving grab on a line drive in the first.
Sullivan went 3-for-4 for the Roughriders. Kogge earned the win, while Gross went 3 2/3 innings and held the Redskins to one hit and two walks while striking out six.
St. Marys has now won two straight and will look to make it three today with a trip to Delphos St. John's at noon.
