Trending
STEUBENVILLE -- Gage Cline's two-out bases-loaded double in the seventh inning made the difference Tuesday, as Edison rallied for a 9-7 victory over Catholic Central at Vaccaro Field.
The Wildcats (8-9) entered the final frame down 7-4. Eli Wilson got what proved to be the game-winning rally going when he drew a walk. Cam Cooley was hit by a pitch. With two on and nobody out, Central coach Aaron Henderson decided to pull starter Ryan Anderson, who battled throughout the contest, and replace him with Alex Solema.
The freshman lefty retired the first batter he faced before issuing a free pass to Jayden Sanders. Joey Booth's grounder back to the mound plated Wilson to make it 7-5. Blake Connelly reached when he was nicked by a pitch to reload the bases. Ian McBane earned a, RBI when he walked.
Cline then stepped in and cleared the bases with his two-base hit to left.
Cooley, the third Wildcat to see action on the mound, surrendered a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh to Andrew Dorsey. A grounder to short resulted in a 6-4-3 double play. The final out came on a comebacker to the mound.
Jayden Sanders worked the first five innings for Edison and Kaleb Whitmore, who collected the win, pitched the sixth. Cooley earned the save in the seventh.
"We definitely battled," a relieved Mike Collopy said. "Our kids have battled all year -- nothing is easy with these guys. I was kidding them by calling them the Cardiac Cats after we were down two in the final inning of our last game and came back to win.
"To the credit of our kids, they kept playing. Central was ready to play and did everything they could do to put themselves in position to win this game. Anderson pitched an outstanding game. I thought our pitchers did OK. A win is a win, and we'll take it. We just have to keep getting better."
The Crusaders, who fell to 4-12, took the lead by scoring three in the fifth and one in the sixth. Solema and Dorsey drove home runs in the fifth, with Solema collecting another RBI in the sixth.
In his six innings of work, Anderson scattered seven hits and recorded eight strikeouts. He worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the third and stranded Edison runners on third and first in the fifth. Solema was pulled after Cline's double, with David Kissinger recording the final out.
"We just couldn't close it out," Henderson said. "I thought overall we played well. We made a couple of mistakes early but we recovered and played well. Mike's boys came up big when they needed to. Edison is an outstanding program and I have a lot of respect for Edison.
"Ryan battled. He threw 30 pitches in the first inning then he settled down. He keeps us in the game both on the mound and offensively. This one hurts."
Edison finished with eight hits. Cline had a single to go with his two-bagger and Wilson connected for a two-run double in the first.
Solema ripped four singles to pace Central's 10-hit attack. Dorsey and Nate Stark had two singles, Anderson a run-scoring triple and Brayden Rauch a double.
"We did a good bit of damage with two outs tonight and that is something we haven't been doing period the last couple of games," Henderson said. "It was good to see the bats wake back up."
UP NEXT
Edison: Tentatively hosts Martins Ferry today.
Central: Off until Monday when it tentatively hosts Shadyside.
Edison 9, Catholic Central 7
Edison 2 0 0 2 0 0 5--9 8 2
Central 0 1 2 0 3 1 0--7 10 2
EDISON (8-9): Sanders (5IP, 6R, 4ER, 7H, 2BB, 2K, 2HBP) Whitmore (WP, 1IP, 1R, 1ER, 2H, 1BB, 2K) Cooley (SV, 1IP, 0R, 1H) and Wilson. Cline D, S, 2RBIs; Wilson D, 2RBIs; Cooley D; McBane S, RBI; Parsons S; Zastudil S; Sanders S; Booth RBI.
CENTRAL (4-12): Anderson (6IP, 6R, 4ER, 7H, 5BB, 8K, 2HBP) Solema (LP, 2/3IP, 3R, 3ER, 1H, 1BB, 1HBP) Kissinger (1/3IP, 0R, 0H) and Dorsey. Solema 4S, 2RBIs; Dorsey 2S, RBI; Stark 2S; Anderson T, RBI; Rauch D; McKenna RBI.