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Mar. 30—ASHTABULA TOWNSHIP — Heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, Edgewood trailed 10-1 in its season opener against Berkshire on Monday night.
In the bottom of the fifth, Jacob Bell drove in two runs with a double, and Logan Kray added a single, which drove in Bell to cut the lead to 10-4. An inning later, the Warriors responded again.
A single to center field by Nick Welty sparked a two-out rally. Later in the inning, an error with the bases loaded scored another three runs.
Despite the late offensive output, a grand slam over the left center field wall by Evan McDermott put the game out of reach. Berkshire went on to win 14-7.
It was Jeff Barger’s first game as coach of the Warriors, and though the game didn’t turn out the way he hoped, Barger saw some positive aspects to build on, some things to improve upon and enjoyed his first game at the helm.
“It was outstanding,” Barger said of the experience. “The guys played well. There were a couple times early in the game we had a lot of chances to score and just didn’t get that big hit when we could have that could’ve really changed the game early on.”
Edgewood left nine runners stranded on base. A good chunk of that number came in the early innings as Berkshire held a 3-1 lead through four innings. The Warriors managed to put runners at first and second with no outs twice early in the game, but came up empty-handed on both occasions.
“We gotta get a run home in each of those situations,” Barger said. “We just didn’t get that timely hit you’re looking for. It’s early in the season. We’re still getting the bats going, but that to me would be the key there.”
When Edgewood got its bats going, it scored six runs in two innings.
Bell recorded three RBIs, while Kray and Ben Welty added one each.
However, when the Warriors struggled to produce runs, often times, they had a hard time making contact and finished with 14 strikeouts.
“We tried to be aggressive at the plate,” Barger said. “This team’s growing together. Without playing last year, everybody on this team lost a year of development, and also, lost a year of growing together as a team.”
Ethan Detrick started at pitcher for Edgewood, allowing three runs through four innings on two hits, for the loss.
Berkshire started JT Bergmeier, who pitched four innings and only gave up three hits and one run to pick up the win.
Ben Welty recorded a team-high three hits and scored twice in four at bats. Nick Welty and Derek Sundstrom were the only Edgewood players who avoided a strikeout. Though the Warriors lost, the late rally could provide them with more confidence to help them grow as a team as the season progresses.
“I saw the team really starting to come together,” Barger said. “Something I was actually concerned about after our scrimmages, but after what I saw [Monday] I feel a lot better about that.”
Edgewood and Berkshire are scheduled to play again today, this time at Berkshire.
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