by Kent, Ohio – Thanks to a five-run fifth inning, the Aurora Greenmen scored enough runs to fend off Kent Roosevelt, defeating the Rough Riders, 12-10, in Suburban League conference play Wednesday afternoon.
After Aurora took an early 2-0 lead, the Rough Riders batted around in the bottom of the second, sending ten men to the plate. Two scored on bases-loaded walks, and Donovan Datewyler plated the other two on a single to left field, giving the Rough Riders the 4-2 lead.
The Greenmen would strike back in the top of the third.
After two runners reached base due to one-out singles, junior catcher Rhoden Kepler knocked them in with a single of his own to tie the score.
From there, it was a stalemate until the top of the fifth.
Junior Will Harris knocked in the go-ahead run with a double to left field. A single and a walk later, junior Ryan Weber knocked home two with a single of his own to left field, increasing the Greenmen lead to 7-4.
The Greenmen would add three more runs to pad their lead to 10-4. But they weren’t done yet.
Sophomore Anthony Dolata knocked in another run in the top of the seventh to increase the lead to 11-5. He went 3-3 with two singles, a double, a walk, and two runs scored.
Another run would score, thanks to a sacrifice fly, putting the lead at 12-5 going into the bottom of the seventh.
Roosevelt put together a late rally, starting with John Carroll football commit Kristian Daetwyler’s two-run single to left field, cutting the Aurora lead to 12-6. Nolan Lane followed with an RBI triple (after his RBI single in the fifth), and senior Alex Dabrowski with a single. This sequence cut the Aurora lead to 12-9.
Aurora senior pitcher Andrew Horvath then came on looking to close out the game. After a strikeout, Ethan Steffl singled to right to make the score 12-10. But Horvath got a game-ending groundout to seal the victory.
Sophomore pitcher Andrew Eichenauer got the win in relief, allowing just one hit in 2 2/3 innings of work, and striking out three batters.
“I thought our offense did everything we asked them to do. On defense we had a hiccup at the end, but pitching-wise, all we ask them to do is throw strikes.” said Aurora head coach Michael Brancazio. “It wasn’t pretty, but knowing that we were gonna get into a slugfest, we did it.”
The Aurora Greenmen improve to 10-4 overall and 5-3 in Suburban League (American Division) play. They host University School for a non-conference showdown Saturday afternoon.
The Roosevelt Rough Riders drop to 6-12 overall and 1-8 in Suburban League (American Division) play.
