Holton baseball splits with St. Marys

By Ali Holcomb

The Holton baseball team split a Big East League doubleheader at home on Monday, April 20, against St. Marys.

The Bears took the first game, 18-15, and Holton won the second game, 14-13. Both games went into extra innings.

With the win, Holton is now 3-7 in the Big East League and 6-8 overall. The Bears are now 5-7 in league play and 5-9 overall.

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In the first game, Holton scored one on a steal at home, and the teams were tied 1-1 at the end of the first.

The Wildcats took the lead after driving in three runs in the second on a single by junior Camryn Wheeler and a two-run home run by sophomore Cody Rodriguez.

In the third, St. Marys added one run and Holton scored two on a single by senior Korben Fox and a steal at home. 

The Bears tied the game 6-6 in the top of the fourth inning, and Holton scored one in the bottom of the inning on a single by senior Caleb McCrory to pull ahead. 

Neither team scored in the fifth, and St. Marys tied the game again at 7-7 in the top of the sixth. In the bottom of the inning, the Wildcats drove in three runs on a single by McCrory and a two-run home run by junior Cade Colberg. 

St. Marys had a big seventh inning, driving in eight runs. Holton forced the game to an extra inning by scoring five runs and tying the game at 15-15. Holton’s runs came on a bases-loaded walk, a two-RBI double from sophomore Clete Way and a two-RBI double from sophomore Grant Warner. 

The Bears outscored Holton 3-0 in the extra inning to win the game.

During the game, Holton had 15 hits in 37 at-bats and 13 RBI.

Junior Jarett Abel pitched 5.1 innings and allowed six runs on 10 hits, walked one and struck out nine.

Junior Dalton Cole, sophomore Landon Sawyer and Rodriguez all pitched an inning in relief. They allowed 12 runs on 13 hits.

The second game was also a back-and-forth battle between the two teams, which were tied 2-2 after the first. Holton’s runs came off a single by McCrory and a steal at home.

The Bears added two runs in the second and two in the third. Holton had one run in the second on a steal of home and another in the third on a double by Colberg.

St. Marys extended its lead to 11-4 with five runs in the fourth inning.

Neither team scored in the fifth, and the Bears drove in one run in the top of the sixth. 

In the bottom of the inning, Holton closed the scoring gap after driving in seven runs on a single by sophomore Jake Segenhagen, a steal of home, a two-RBI double by Sawyer, a two-run home run by McCrory and a double by Warner.

The game was tied 13-13 at the end of the seventh after St. Marys scored one and Holton added two more on a double by sophomore Tucker Terry and a single by McCrory.

The Bears went scoreless in the extra inning, and Holton won the game when Warner stole home.

The Wildcats had 14 hits in 35 at-bats and 10 RBI. Rodriguez pitched two innings and allowed six runs on eight hits. Sawyer pitched one inning and allowed two runs on two hits. 

Senior Cael Frazier pitched three innings in relief and allowed four runs on four hits, walked two and struck out one. Terry pitched the final two innings and allowed one run on three hits and walked one.