Student Princes Win in Finals to Force Second Game
The no. 9 Heidelberg College baseball team, led by head coach Matt Palm, emerged from the losing bracket of the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament to defeat Marietta College 5-3 in game one of the final round, forcing a second game. It was the fourth meeting of the season for the Student Princes and the Pioneers, and the first where Heidelberg came out on top. Marietta previously swept the Berg 3-2, 10-6 on March 23 in Marietta, and won again on Friday, May 9, 8-4 in game three of the tournament. Heidelberg currently stands at 36-8 for the year, while Marietta falls to 23-19.
Marietta scored first in the bottom of the second inning to take an early lead, but Heidelberg responded with a run in the top of the third to tie things up. The Pioneers pulled ahead once more in the fourth when an unearned run crossed the plate following a ground out to the shortstop.
The Berg took back the lead for good in the top of the fifth, scoring three earned runs before the Pioneers to could manage to pick up the third out. Jeremy Wentworth (Johnstown, Ohio / St. Charles Prep) scored the first run of the inning when he sprinted in from second base thanks to a single through the right side by Gar Keen (Fredericktown, Ohio / Highland). The go-ahead run came courtesy of Andy Buelow (Marysville, Mich. / Marysville), who raced across the plate from third when Cody James (Belle Center, Ohio / Benjamin Logan) knocked a single to right centerfield. Matt Grassley (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) singled to Marietta’s shortstop, Brennan Cribbins, to drive in James for the last run of the inning.
Heidelberg picked up an insurance run in the top of the seventh and the Berg bullpen only allowed one more run by Marietta in the bottom of the eighth to seal the win.
Heidelberg picked up 14 hits during the contest, while Marietta was held to four. For the Berg, Grassley went 3-for-4 at the plate with one RBI and a walk. Wentworth contributed three hits and a run and James posted two hits, a run, and two RBIs. Danny Jones, Tony Piconke, Matt DeSico, and Cribbins recorded the only hits of the game for the Pioneers. Cribbins picked up two RBIs, DeSico one, while Jones scored twice and Piconke once to account for all three of the team’s runs.
Defensively, Biagio Boytim (Brunswick, Ohio / Brunswick) led the Berg with 13 putouts and Willie Brechun (Clinton, Ohio / Canton Central Catholic) dished out four assists. Dominick Winters recorded 14 putouts for Marietta, with Cribbins contributing seven assists.
On the mound, Everett Thomas (Evansville, Ind. / Harrison) picked up his seventh win of the season for the Berg, having tossed 7.1 innings while giving up only three hits, two earned runs, walking four, and striking out seven. Andy Lowe (Fort Wayne, Ind. / Carroll) earned his sixth save of the year, having commanded the mound for 1.2 innings while allowing only one hit and walking one. The loss went to Marietta’s Justin Merryman, his sixth of the season. Merryman gave up 12 hits, five earned runs, walked two, and struck out four of the 38 batters he faced.
Heidelberg and Marietta face off again at 3:15 p.m. in Peaceful Valley on Heidelberg’s campus to decide the tournament victor.