Second DH Split In As Many Days

An eerily similar script played out in both games for the Toledo "Gold" Hawks on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Sylvania, Ohio.  The host Hawks, jumping out to a big early lead in the first game, held on for a 9-8 win over the visiting Canton Terriers.  However--in the second contest, an early Hawk romp dissolved into a come-from-behind, 12-8 victory for the guests from the other side of Ohio.

The Hawks began the afternoon with nine tallies in the first two innings.  Brett Howard (Siena Heights/Toledo) brought home the first two runs with a first-inning single, scoring Cory Lehman (Siena Heights/Rossford) and Blake Schmenk (Owens CC/Perrysburg), who had reached base via walk and hit batsman, respectively.  R.J. Rios (Adrian/Toledo) then brought home Howard with a high, arcing double.  In the second, walks to Colin Meinzer (Wooster/Toledo) and Levi Pauli (Defiance/Ottawa Lake, MI) were followed by a Lehman 2-RBI double, a Schmenk run-scoring single, a base hit by Drew Kunz (Bowling Green/Oregon), and a double by Howard.  When Howard crossed the plate after a Terrier wild pitch, the Hawks were enjoying a 9-0 laugher.

Happy to receive the runs was eventual winning pitcher Zak Esposito (Owens CC/Sandusky), who yielded three runs (two earned) over his five innings of work.  Esposito recorded 8 K's, including three punchouts in the fifth inning, and left with a 9-3 lead.   Andy Joseph (Owens CC/Sylvania) came on to pitch the sixth, and he was greeted rudely by the Terriers, who nipped at his heels for five runs.  Joseph finally escaped when he induced a two-on, two-out grounder to shortstop Lehman, who made a nice charge on the ball and the ensuing throw to first to keep further runs from scoring.

The Hawks were held hitless after their early barrage in the first two frames; Howard had two hits for the victors.  Lucas Willitzer (Adrian/Defiance) allowed two seventh-inning singles, but he nailed down the Hawk victory with three strikeouts to record the save.

The Gold Hawks looked to be cruising at high altitude in Game Two, leading 8-2 after four innings.  Schmenk (single), Kunz (triple), and a triple by Ryan Williams (Tiffin/Maumee) combined to notch two first-inning tallies, but Williams was held at third by a great throw from the Terrier rightfielder on Howard's fly ball.  However, the Hawk attack came right back in the next inning for three more runs; Mike Lollo (Siena Heights/Allen Park, MI) and Lehman walked with two outs, and a Schmenk double and Kunz single made those free passes hurt.  Likewise, Lehman and Kunz both reached base in the fourth after being hit by pitch; this time, Howard's single and a 2-run double by Eric Yunker (Ohio Northern/Holland) gave the Hawks a lead that had them thinking "sweep" for the afternoon.

Starting pitcher Ricky Volante (Lake Erie/Tappahannock, VA) sailed through four innings, striking out four and giving up one free pass.  Volante was touched for one run in the first and two runs in the third, and turned the ball and the game over to the Hawk bullpen for the fifth.  The Terriers barked again as they had in the opening game, but this time even more loudly.  Meinzer, the opening game catcher, struggled through an inning of work that saw him leave after allowing nine total runs.

The Hawk lineup again went quietly in the later innings, with no hits over the final three.  Travis Mielcarek (Siena Heights/Toledo) finished for the Hawks, stranding a runner at third in each of his two innings, but did not allow any more Terrier runs.  However, the Terriers left with a few Hawk feathers in their teeth after grounding the home team in the final game.

With the doubleheader split, the Gold Hawks' Tri-State league record is 6-2.