AYERSVILLE – A bit of wildness from an Archbold stalworth, a sliding grab and a little patience at the plate were all needed for Tinora as the Rams were able to battle back to claim a 5-4 win over Archbold in 11 innings in the District 2 North sectional winner’s bracket final on Saturday to clinch a spot in the district tournament this upcoming weekend of the Rams.
“We chipped away, slowly,” stated Tinora ACME coach Doug Plassman. “In the seventh, they got a little wild with the pitching. We started running the bases well and put the ball in play.”
Tinora trailed 4-1 when coming to bat in the bottom of the seventh. Back-to-back walks issued by Mason Towns ended his day, and Gavin Bailey stepped to the mound to protect the Archbold lead. He pitched to one batter – Dalton Wolfram – who laced an RBI single through the right side of the infield.
With the lead now down to 4-2, the Streaks turned to Jayden Seiler to close it out. Two wild pitches and a stolen base led to the tying runs crossing the plate in the seventh before Seiler settled in and got out of the inning.
“When a good team is up 4-0, they are going to find a way to win,” admitted Archbold ACME coach Kirk Weldy. “They kept grinding and getting opportunities. That’s where we have to find ways to shut them down.”
In the extra innings, both teams put runners on before the winning run was scored. The Rams had runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the eighth, and had a runner picked off after reaching on an error in the ninth.
After going in order in the eighth and ninth innings, Archbold had a couple big chances in the final two innings of the game. Two hits had runners at second and third with one out in the 10th for the Streaks, but a groundout to second with the infield in kept the runners in place, then a bobbled bouncer was thrown to first in time to end the inning.
With runners on the corners in the top of the 11th, Archbold appeared to break through when Seiler lined a ball down the left field line. Heading towards foul territory, Jayden Bergman dove and made a great catch to end the threat.
“Jayden told me earlier in the game he was an infielder,” quipped the Tinora coach. “We were going to switch some kids around (on defense). Then he ends up making a play like that.”
In the bottom of the frame, the Rams were able to produce a run. Wolfram opened the frame by reaching on an error, then went all the way to third when the base was left uncovered on a bunt by Ty Wiemken. After a flyout to shallow left, Cole Anders singled to bring in Wolfram.
Archbold took a 4-0 lead after scoring two runs in the second and two more in the fourth. Teron Ward came on to get the final out of the fourth in relief of starter Gavin Eckard and kept Archbgold off-balance for the next seven innings.
“It was a big adjustment from their first guy,” Weldy said of the pitching change by the Rams. “You go from a lefty to a righty, it’s tough to adjust to that real quick. We got out in front and popped a lot of things up.”
Ward started by getting the first eight hitters in a row. He walked two and fanned two in his extended outing. He needed just 72 pitches to complete seven innings.
“For him to come into the game and pitch the way he did,” stated Plassman, “was phenomenal. He threw tons of strikes and there was some quick innings. Kudos to him for coming in with the pressure of the championship game. You can’t ask for anything more.”
Tinora advances to the District 2 tournament starting Friday at Patrick Henry.
Archbold 020 200 000 00 – 2 7 4
Tinora 000 001 300 01 – 5 7 3
Winning pitcher: Eli Plassman (0.1 innings, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts). Others: Gavin Eckard, Teron Ward.
Losing pitcher: Jayden Seiler (4.1 innings, 4 hitts, 1 run, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts). Others: Jaybe Burkle, Mason Towns, Gavin Bailey).
Leading hitters: (Archbold) – Jack Hurst 3 singles; Krayton Kern double, RBI; Jaybe Burkle RBI. (Tinora) – Jayden Bergman 2 singles, RBI; Ty Wiemken 2 singles; Dalton Wolfram single, RBI; Cole Anders single, RBI.
