Second inning error decides WesCo game

One bad inning that resulted in four unearned runs crossing the plate and enabled Monroe to defeat the Oak Harbor High School baseball team 7-4 in a Friday afternoon WesCo North game.

The loss was the fourth straight league defeat and dropped the Wildcat season record to 2-7 in WesCo games and 4-8 overall.

Senior Bennett Richter had a strong outing on the mound Oak Harbor and threw the ball well, but a second-inning mistake on an infield pop fly proved costly.

“It was a tough one to lose,” coach Tyson Van Dam said. “Bennett pitched really well, though. I thought he battled while he was in there and then Kurtis Weaver came in and also did a really good job.”

Oak Harbor scored its first run in the opening inning on a leadoff single by Weaver, Sam Wolfe’s sacrifice bunt and infield hit by Jay Stout, followed by a wind-blown double off the bat of Yale Rosen.

Rosen had a good day at the plate stroking a pair of doubles and driving in two runs.

With two out in the bottom of the second inning and runners on first and third, the Wildcats let an infield pop up drop that opened the door for the Bearcats big time. Monroe then put together a pair of singles and a walk to take a 4-1 lead.

Oak Harbor came back with two runs in the bottom of the third inning on Rosen’s second double of the game and a single by Brad Farnum to cut the lead to 4-3.

However, Monroe scored two runs in the top of the fifth inning and one more in the top of the sixth to claim the victory.

The Wildcats pushed a run across the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning on a single by Stout and had the tying run on first base, and the go-ahead run at the plate before Monroe relief pitcher Jacob Reppert struck out the final two batters to end the game.

“I think we’ll be able to bounce back,” Van Dam said. “Our intensity was better today than it has been in the past, we just couldn’t get amped up for the final inning.”

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