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TORONTO -- Toronto is the Gem City for a reason.
The baseball team is once again having another stellar season, as the Red Knights are ranked No. 1 in the state of Ohio in Division IV and kept rolling along in an unplanned game.
Toronto totaled just four hits, but the team made the most of them, en route to a 4-1 victory against Carrollton Monday evening at the Knights Baseball Complex.
Toronto originally was scheduled to play Indian Creek, however, the Redskins are in quarantine, and the Warriors came to town instead.
"Our kids had great at-bats at the plate," Toronto (13-1) head coach Brian Perkins said. "They saw a lot of pitches. When you see a lot of pitches, you are going to have success. We did a good job at the plate."
The game was a homecoming of sorts for Carrollton head coach Brian Connelly. His Warriors battled, but they struggled at the plate and in the field.
"When you come to play Toronto, you are not going to win when you have four hits and three errors," Connelly said. "That was our big issue. Chris Parker pitched a great game.
"They got some timely hits. They capitalized on some walks in the fifth. Evan Lewis started the inning by walking the first two batters. Walks come back to haunt you. Toronto was able to push a couple of runs across. Lewis started the inning with two walks."
Parker went to the distance to pick up the win for the Red Knights. He allowed one run on four hits, while striking out four and walking one.
"Chris did a fantastic job," Perkins said. "He threw well. He threw all three pitches for strikes. He kept them off-balance. We made the plays behind him. We had no errors."
Lewis took the loss for the Warriors. He allowed four runs on four hits, while striking out four and walking four in his five innings of work on the mound. Josh Price pitched the sixth. He did not allow a run or a hit, while walking one without striking out a batter.
The Red Knights recorded two runs in the bottom of the first to take the early lead, and the hosts scored two more in the fifth.
The Warriors produced their lone run in the fourth.
All four Toronto hits were singles, while half of Carrollton's four went for extra bases.
Avery Wiegand, Evan Wolter and Parker all tallied a single and an RBI for the Red Knights. Dom Bouscher delivered a base hit, and Brycen Miller contributed an RBI.
Offensively for the visitors, Caden Buxton blasted a solo home run, Jackson Rinkes recorded a single and a double and Lewis singled.
The Warriors had difficulty hitting the ball on the ground, as Parker produced 13 fly outs. Carrollton did not hit the ball on the ground until the fifth inning. Eleven of the Warriors' first 12 outs came on balls hit in the air. Two of Carrollton's hits came on balls hit in the air through that stretch, too.
"That is unbelievable," Connelly said. "I think our first 10 guys hit the ball in the air. We have to do a better job of putting the ball in play. We have to hit ground balls and line drives. The easiest out in baseball is on pop-ups hit 30 or 40 feet in the air. We need to do a better job at the plate."
Bouscher led off the bottom of the first with a base hit, and he advanced to second on an errant pickoff throw. Wiegand then delivered a base hit, giving the victors a 1-0 lead. Wiegand advanced to second on a fielding error, moved to third on a ground out and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Wolter, putting Toronto out in front, 2-0.
Buxton's bomb over the fence in left pulled Carrollton to within 2-1 in the fourth.
The Red Knights recorded two more runs in the fifth. Bouscher started the inning with a walk, and the second baseman stole second. Next, Wiegand drew a walk to put two runners on base, and Parker followed with a base hit, scoring Bouscher to give Toronto a 3-1 lead. Miller followed with a sac fly to center, scoring Wiegand to increase Toronto's advantage to 4-1.
UP NEXT
Carrollton: Tentatively travels to Salem today.
Toronto: Tentatively hosts Oak Glen today.
Toronto is scheduled to play at 5 p.m. today at home against Oak Glen.
"One hundred percent," Perkins said when asked if he was happy with how his team has played through its first 14 games of the season. "They show up with a lot of energy every day. They are a lot of run to coach. We want to try and get better every day, and I hope we can continue to do that."
Toronto 4, Carrollton 1
Carrollton 0-0-0 1-0-0 0 -- 1 4 5
Toronto 2-0-0 0-2-0 x -- 4 4 0
CARROLLTON (7-7): Lewis (LP, 5IP, 4R, 4H, 4K, 4BB), Price (1IP, 0R, 0H, 0K, 1BB) and Moore. Rinkes S, D; Buxton HR, RBI; Lewis S.
TORONTO (13-1): Parker (WP, 7IP, 1R, 4H, 4K, 1BB) and Early. Bouscher S; Wiegand S, RBI; Parker S, RBI; Miller RBI; Wolter S, RBI.