Streetsboro, Ohio – Thanks to a stellar pitching performance from senior Caleb Gartner, the Field Falcons knocked off the Streetsboro Rockets, 4-1, in a chilly affair Tuesday afternoon.
Braden Craft got on board with a single, and Noah Newman followed with a single to left field. Craft got to third, and Newman got to second on the throw. The Rockets were in business with two on and one out.
However, Gartner got out of the inning by inducing a popup to catcher Carter Little who made a diving grab for the second out, and a grounder to Braxton Baumberger at third.
The Falcon offense got going in the top of the second.
Caleb Gartner got things started with a leadoff single up the middle. Caden Kolesar reached on a groundball to third base, and a Grady Eager single loaded the bases.
Logan Lonzrick drew a bases-loaded walk to put the Falcons up 1-0. Garit Greene hit an RBI single to right field to increase the lead to 2-0. Grady Eager would score on a wild pitch to make the score 3-0.
Scott Wilson led off with a single in the bottom of the third inning for the Rockets. He advanced to second and third on wild pitches, and scored thanks to a two-out throwing error.
Grady Eager led off the top of the fourth with a walk, and advanced to second on a passed ball. He later scored on an RBI single from Carter Little to increase the Field Falcons’ lead to 4-1.
Caleb Gartner continued to do his thing on the mound for the Falcons. He worked around a walk and struck out the side in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Streetsboro tried to get a rally going in the bottom of the sixth inning, getting a pair of runners on base due to an error and a walk. Those runners moved to second and third due to a wild pitch. However, Caleb Gartner got Colby Benjamin to strike out, and thanks to a heads up play by Carter Little behind the dish, Gartner chased down Kyle Liddle and tagged him out to end the frame.
In the bottom of the seventh, Caleb Gartner got the first two outs without trouble. After Braden Craft reached on an error at third, Gartner got Noah Newman to pop out to short to end the game.
Field improves to 9-2 overall and 4-2 in the Metro Conference. In addition to Gartner’s performance, eight different players hat a hit.
Streetsboro drops to 6-4 overall and 4-2 in the Metro Conference. Senior pitcher Noah Newman went 6.1 innings, throwing 117 pitches and striking out four hitters.
The two teams will match up Wednesday afternoon at Field High School.