Eastwood relief pitcher Ethan Rappelled delivers a pitch during the fifth inning of a game Tuesday at Eastwood High School.
Scott W. Grau | Sentinel-Tribune
PEMBERVILLE — In the bottom of the fourth inning, Eastwood senior middle infielder Isaac Cherry hit a long shot to center field that might have left the park in warmer temperatures.
On Tuesday, however, Eastwood and Maumee were playing their season opener in temperatures that had fallen below 40 degrees by the end of the game with a cold wind blowing out of the east.
Cherry’s shot was caught by Maumee center fielder Ayden McCarthy, but Cherry got redemption in the following inning.
With the bases loaded in the fifth, Cherry hit a similar shot to the right center field gap, clearing the bases and giving the Eagles an 11-1 mercy-ruled five inning victory over the Panthers.
Cherry was thanked by multiple people for his “walk-off” double that sent a couple dozen baseball players and a couple dozen fans home and out of temperatures that seemed to be heading toward the freezing mark.
“It feels great. It is really cold out here, so I don’t mind winning in five innings,” Cherry said.
Cherry, who also drove in Eastwood’s second run on a grounder to the shortstop in the second inning, finished with a game-high four RBIs.
Eastwood senior Lake Boos was 3-for-3 and had the game’s only other extra base hit, a double to center field in the fifth, and he scored all three times he appeared at the plate.
Boos also started on the mound, earning the win by striking out seven, walking none, allowing five hits and one earned run in four innings. He threw 74 pitches.
Boos struck out the side in the third on 11 pitches but gave up two hits and a run in the fourth, throwing a game-high 26 pitches.
“He did OK for the cold. He battled through,” Eastwood coach Kevin Leady said.
“Our conversation with him is that not every time you pitch will you have all your pitches working.
“That’s what makes you a pitcher — battling through those tough moments, weathering the adversity. For the first time out, I thought he did well,” Leady added.
Eastwood junior Ethan Rapp closed in the fifth, and only Angelo Shepler reached on an error, but Rapp did not allow a hit or run.
Offensively, Eastwood scored single runs in the first and second, added two in the third, and blew the game wide open with seven fifth inning runs on four hits, two walks, and two batters were hit by pitches.
Eastwood junior clean-up hitter Jordan Pickerel was 3-for-3 with three RBIs, and junior designated hitter Caleb Recker had a base hit and RBI.
Senior Andrew Arntson had a base hit with a walk and scored twice, and junior Jackson Bauer and sophomore Tristan Schuerman had one RBI each.
Michael Dembski started on the mound for Maumee, lasting four innings, striking out two, walking two, allowing eight hits and seven runs while taking the loss.
Dembski, Shepler, Caden Brown, Landon Patterson and Chase Maulucci had base hits for the Panthers.
Eastwood has 13 lettermen returning, so Leady is confident about his team’s chances competing for a Northern Buckeye Conference title.
“We have a lot of experience, guys who have played a lot of baseball and been through some tough situations,” Leady said.
“We’ve got some guys who can run, and we put a little bit of that on display today,” continued Leady.
Cherry added, “I think our team is loaded this year. We’ve got pretty much everybody back this year, we have good pitching, and we all swing the bats well.
“It is just a good, solid team we have, and I think we can make a solid run.”
