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Arsenal Can't Shoot Down Golden Hawks |
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Written by Steve DeDoes for Toledo Hawks Baseball
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Tuesday, 12 July 2011 07:26 |
Ravenna Sweep Gives Team 4-0 Weekend
The Toledo Hawks "Gold" squad was able to avoid a few traps in a pair of games with the Ravenna Arsenal on Sunday, July 10. After rebounding to win the opening game 9-5, the home team was able to claim the second contest by a 4-2 margin - running their Tri-State League record to 18-6 and their overall mark to 24-6.
In Game One, Cory Lehman (Siena Heights/Toledo) was able to provide both the spark and the exclamation point. He led off the bottom of the first with a bloop double down the leftfield line and raced home on Blake Schmenk's (Owens CC/Perrysburg) single. Lehman also added a third-inning single, and later bashed a 6th-inning two-run homer to end the scoring; and in between all of that, in a 5-run fourth, he worked a bases-loaded walk to help the Hawks rally after the Arsenal had scored four times in the top of the inning.
Ravenna's outburst had given them a temporary 5-2 lead, and it included a two-run homer off starting Hawk pitcher Andy Joseph (Owens CC/Sylvania). However, the bottom of the inning saw the Hawks tie the score courtesy of three walks and two hit batsmen; with two out, Drew Kuns (Bowling Green/Oregon) helped the Hawks seize control of the game when he singled for two runs. Lehman's blast was the icing on the offensive cake.
Thanks to the fourth-inning rally, Joseph was able to claim the pitching win (his first) despite allowing seven hits and three walks while recording two strikeouts. The final three innings were tossed by Colin Meinzer (Wooster/Toledo), who allowed multiple baserunners in each of his innings but got critical outs - including four by strikeout - to escape any scoring damage. The Arsenal had the bases loaded in the seventh, but a groundball to Lehman ended the threat and earned Meinzer the save.
Lehman got things started in Game Two, this time helping to score a run without benefit of a hit. He led off the bottom of the first with a walk, moved to second base on a wild pitch, advanced to third on Schmenk's right-side grounder, and scored on Kunz' sacrifice fly. The Hawks added a pair of runs in the third when Mike Lollo (Siena Heights/Allen Park, MI) and Phill Dysard (Tiffin/Toledo) reached base thanks to Arsenal misplays. After Lehman neatly sacrificed them up a base, Schmenk's groundout and Kunz' single brought the runs home.
Starting pitcher Tyler Gibson (Bluffton/Sylvania) allowed a couple of hits in the first, but didn't give up a score until the fifth. A leadoff walk was followed by a double, but Gibson limited the Arsenal to only one run in his four-strikeout performance. Jimmie Shaw (Lake Erie/Holland) surrendered a run in the sixth after the first three batters hit safely; Shaw worked out of further trouble while also notching a strikeout.
The Hawks answered back with a single run in their half of the sixth, as Brett Howard (Siena Heights/Toledo) and Ryan Williams (Tiffin/Maumee) each singled with one out; R.J. Rios (Adrian/Toledo) scored Howard on a RBI groundout; Rios also had two singles in earlier innings.
With the score 4-2, Mattie DeDoes (Oberlin/Ann Arbor, MI) came on to defuse the Arsenal, working a 1-2-3 seventh to earn his first save of the season; one of DeDoes' outs came via strikeout. Gibson got the win, and his won-loss record moved to 2-1.
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