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closeSpartans baseball team survives against Jaguars late rally in seventh
Sumner hurler Ethan Ramberg shuts the door on Emerald Ridge in their final at bat with game on the line
Shaun Scott
An early season non-league baseball contest under a steady downpour of rain between the Sumner Spartans and Emerald Ridge Jaguars came down to the final at bat.
With two outs in the top of the seventh inning, Emerald Ridge Jaguars senior Colby Sokol blasted a double to left field off of Spartans reliever Cameron Lauch scoring teammate Zach Hendrix, which cut Sumner’s lead to 2-1.
Spartans head coach John Welker made his way to the mound, bringing in infielder Ethan Ramberg to face Emerald Ridge’s Tim Peterson with the outcome of the game hanging in the balance. Ramberg said there was only one thing on his mind when Welker gave him the ball.
“When I got the chance to come in, all I was thinking was that I had to throw strikes,” Ramberg said.
Ramberg got Peterson to ground out to shortstop Drew Monroe giving the Spartans a 2-1 victory on March 20.
“My first few pitches I felt pretty cold,” Ramberg said. “When I saw the ball on the ground I turned around and knew I had a good defense behind me. I had complete confidence in Drew making the play. He’s a solid infielder for us.”
Welker was ecstatic his team was able to hold on for the win.
“This is a big win for us. Especially early in the season,” Welker said. “Ethan came in and got the job done and he didn’t even pitch last year for us. All of our pitchers today came up big. Overall, I thought we had a nice tempo out there on the mound.”
Sumner starting pitcher Mike Dent threw five strong innings allowing just two hits. Sumner reliefers Tanner Walker, Lauch and Ramberg combined for two innings on the hill, allowing just one run and four hits.
Despite the solid pitching performance by Sumner, Emerald Ridge had their chances to get themselves back in the game. In the top of the sixth, Emerald Ridge loaded the bases with two outs. Emerald Ridge head coach Tim Spears sent freshman Bryan Burgher to the plate to pinch hit for fellow freshman Zach Cloe. Spartans pitcher Tanner Walker got behind in the count 2-to-1 before Welker called time, making his way out to the mound to have a talk with his relief pitcher. Later in the at bat, the count was full at 3-to-2 when Walker’s sixth pitch of the at bat grazed the outside corner of the plate and Burgher struck out looking to quell the threat, stranding three Jaguars runners on base in the top of the sixth.
Spears said his team had opportunities not only in the sixth inning, but throughout the entire contest but failed to cash in on those chances to score.
“Our offense is our strength and it kind of let us down today,” Spears said. “It’s hard to hit in the cold but we just didn’t get the hits we needed in clutch situations. Once we do a better job of clutch hitting as a team, the better we will get. It’s still pretty early in the year.”
Spears was pleased with the pitching performances of James Bava and Zack Cloe.
“If our pitchers only give up two runs a game I’ll be extremely happy,” Spears said. “They did a good job on the mound for us today.”
Emerald Ridge’s leading hitters included Logan Bushnell (2-for-4) and Colby Sokol (1-for-3, RBI). Sumner’s stalwarts from the plate consisted of Conor Cook (1-for-2, RBI) and Zach Pleasants (2-for-3).