Tourney baseball: River View turns tables on Minerva
WARSAW — It didn't exactly look promising for River View's baseball team on Saturday.
Just six outs into its Division II sectional opener against visiting Minerva, the 18th-seeded Lions had chased Black Bear ace Owen Emig and built a 6-2 lead.
The local nine were not to be deterred.
Bryson Fry fired four scoreless innings of relief and River View's bottom four hitters in the order combined for seven hits and seven RBIs in a 12-8 win at Ron Tisko Field.
Ethan Jordan's RBI single with the game tied at 6 in the fifth, which followed a 90-minute weather delay, triggered a run of six straight Black Bear runs over the final three innings. Minerva failed to answer until scoring twice in the seventh.
The No. 9 hitter Jordan also had game-tying sacrifice fly in the third, which came after Arik Lumbatis' RBI triple went over the right fielder's head and sent home Trace Davis.
"They came out and swung the bats well and we kicked it around a little early, but we came up with some big hits," River View coach Todd Liberatore said. The Black Bears also stole four bases, with Davis getting two.
It was a day the offense was desperately needed.
No. 14 seed River View (11-14) needed three pitchers to get through the game. But Emig, despite his struggles to contain Minerva's offense, threw only 46 pitches. That would have him on pace to start on Tuesday in the finals against St. Clairsville should Liberatore choose that option. Davis would also be available.
The game is set for 5 p.m. on the Red Devils' home field, with the winner advancing to the district against either Philo or Meadowbrook. Both are Muskingum Valley League counterparts.
Liberatore said his team's chances will be dependent on its ability to play without untimely mistakes, particularly on defense. It had four errors against Minerva that led to three unearned runs and committed 10 in the three games prior — all losses to Wooster Triway (13-3), Garaway (4-0) and Dover (11-0). They made six and still managed a 9-3 win against East Knox on May 9.
Saturday capped a stretch of six games in six days. Sunday and Monday will be much-needed off days, but for the team to advance past Monday its recent trend of poor defense must make a rapid turn.
"When we play error free we can compete with anyone," Liberatore said. "When we make four or five errors we usually don't win. That's the way it has been all year."
Fry saved the day in relief, tossing four innings with no runs allowed after coming on for Emig with two outs in the second. Six straight Lions reached with two outs in the inning, including an error that allowed the fourth run to score in that span.
Fry came on to get a strikeout to end the inning, igniting a four-inning stretch in which he struck out six and yielded only three hits. It allowed the Bears time to chip away, as Emig's two-run single in the second cut the deficit in half at 6-4.
One inning later, Jordan's sac fly tied the game at 6-6, and River View officially had momentum. With ominous skies fast approaching, Fry wriggled out of a two-on, two-out jam in the fourth.
River View failed to score in the bottom of the inning, then got one out in the fifth before the game was called. Radar and forecasts weren't looking favorable for a return.
"I didn't think we were going to get it in," Liberatore admitted. "It wasn't looking real good."
But the rain was mostly light, and eventually the lightning moved out. River View took little time in taking advantage, as Davis reached on a one-out single and scored on Jordan's two-out single to left field to break the tie.
Then Fry finally hit a snag.
After cruising through the first two batters in the sixth, he walked the bases loaded. Liberatore called on the lefty Davis, who induced a flyout to end the frame.
River View responded by loading the bases on singles from Fry, Brody Shrimplin and Emig to start the bottom of the inning, and Cruz Mobley and Davis had consecutive singles to send three runs home. Lumbatis added another, pushing the lead to 12-6.
Davis allowed a pair of runs in the seventh, but he had more than enough breathing room to seal the save.
Sampsel had three singles and Shrimplin, Emig, Mobley, Davis and Lumbatis had two apiece. Davis, Lumbatis and Jordan, the 7-8-9 hitters, respectively, combined for six RBIs.
Minerva totaled 11 hits, as Ahdyn Lautzenheiser drove in three runs with a double and two singles, Erik Murray doubled and singled and Nick Lautzenheiser singled twice.
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This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Tourney baseball: River View turns tables on Minerva
