It may have been sunny, but chilly in the 40s when the Campbell County Camels baseball team (2-2 overall) took the home field in the afternoon.
But Head Coach Scott Schweitzer said the head coach of their opponent told him it was in the 20s at home upon heading south Monday morning. Campbell County was the first of three teams from Boone, Kenton and Campbell Counties to face the Theodore Roosevelt Bears from Wyandotte, Michigan. Wyandotte is about 11 miles south of Detroit on the Detroit River in southeast Michigan.
Campbell County used nice pitching, defense and timely hitting to record a 5-1 victory over the Bears. This marked Roosevelt’s first game of the season.
Things started on the mound for Campbell County with senior pitcher Jake Napier (2-0). Napier struck out an amazing 15 Bears to go with no walks or wild pitches.
“Early in the game, I found out that my command was really good so I kept the percentage of how hard I was throwing low so I could hit my spots,” Napier said. “I just attack (opponents). Once they start stringing a few hits together, I might change the approach. But I’m mainly, go, go, go, aggressive.”
Both teams had 24 at-bats. But Campbell County had seven hits to record a .292 batting averages compared to just three hits for a .125 clip for Roosevelt. The Camels scored three unearned runs off four Roosevelt errors and the Bears scored their lone run off Campbell County’s only error of the game.
Junior right fielder Brayden Wells went 2 for 3 with two doubles, one run batted in and one run scored to lead the Camels. Campbell County had five extra-base hits in the win.
Junior second baseman Jake Gross hit his first home run in the fourth inning over the fence in left center field to put Campbell County up 4-0. Senior Zack Riley had a double and two RBI and senior first baseman Anthony Florimonte had the other double.
The Camels went up 1-0 in the first inning when senior center fielder Greg Vineyard walked, took second when junior shortstop Aydan Hamilton singled and moved to third on a Roosevelt scoring error then scored when Riley grounded out to second. Wells doubled to open the second and moved to third when Gross reached on an error. Wells then gave Campbell County a 2-0 lead when Florimonte laid down a sacrifice bunt toward the third base line.
Hamilton scored in the third to give Campbell County a 3-0 advantage. He struck out but reached first on a Roosevelt error then scored when Riley doubled.
“You have to take advantage of every opportunity,” Riley said. “You try to get ahead (in the count). A couple of times there, I got behind. You just have to stay focused, drive that ball and try not to pop it up. You hit it on the ground, putting it in play trying to force errors.”
Riley scored the final Campbell County run in the fifth inning. He reached on another Roosevelt fielding error, stole second then scored when Wells doubled with two out.
Roosevelt mounted a bit of a rally in the sixth inning. Second baseman Robbie Longoria reached on an error and moved to second when Napier hit shortstop/third baseman Jaden McGowen with a pitch before pitcher/shortstop Donovan Canterberry doubled Longoria home to make the final score.
But Napier left runners at second and third. Napier struck out the next two Bears and got designated hitter Tyler Kurdi to line out to Florimonte at first to end the threat.
“We’ve talked in the offseason about throwing more complete games,” Schweitzer said. “Jake (Napier) has really worked at it. He went out there with a short leash in the sixth and seventh innings. But he wants the ball in those situations.”
The Camels take on Bracken County (6-3) in a 10th Region game on Wednesday at home. Game time is 6 p.m.
Baseball:
Conner 5, Milford (Ohio) 0:
The Cougars (4-0) had to play a full seven innings for the first time this season after run-ruling their first three opponents. But they took care of business on the road against the Eagles. This marked Milford’s first game of the season.
Conner scored twice in the top of the third and never looked back. The Cougars added two more in the top of the fifth inning. They drew four walks and took advantage of five Milford errors while committing just one.
Conner batted .222 (6 for 27) at the plate. But the Cougars saw two hitters record multi-hit games. Senior shortstop Gage Testerman went 2 for 4 with one double and two runs scored and junior right fielder Jackson Bucks went 2 for 3 with one double and a stolen base. Senior second baseman Blaise Bowman walked twice and scored twice. Senior catcher Briggs Yeunger had three huge RBIs for the Cougars.
“We put the ball in play. We put pressure on their defense,” said Brad Arlinghaus, Conner Head Coach. “We took advantage of those five errors. We ran hard down the first base line and had some balls hit our legs. We took advantage of what the defense was going to give us.”
Sophomore Rex Richter (1-0) picked up the pitching win for Conner. Richter pitched into the fifth inning striking out three. He walked seven, but only allowed one hit.
Senior Andrew Minckley took over with two out in the bottom of the fifth and the bases loaded for the Cougars. But he struck out Milford sophomore second baseman Michael Kirk to end the threat.
“Coming in, I knew we had a decent lead so I was able to pitch comfortably,” Minckley said. “I knew I had a defense behind me that could take care of whatever got sent their way. It says we’re good in all facets of the game.”
The Cougars take on Cooper (1-1) in the Denny Taney Classic at 4:30 p.m. at Holy Cross.
Covington Catholic 5, Simon Kenton 2:
The Colonels (2-0) ventured to Independence and recorded a non-region win over the Pioneers (3-2).
The Pioneers outhit the Colonels, 7-6. But Simon Kenton committed three errors to one for CovCath.
The Colonels saw two players record multi-hit games. Senior Luke Lenhof went 2 for 3 with one double, two runs scored and one RBI. Senior first baseman William Burke went 2 for 3 with three RBI and a sacrifice fly. Sophomore second baseman Owen Leen added a double and scored a run.
Lenhof (1-0) picked up the win on the mound for the Colonels. She struck out six, walked five and allowed two earned runs and five hits. Sophomore Eli Wagner pitched the last two innings picking up the save striking out two and allowing two hits.
CovCath led 3-0 in the top of the fifth before Simon Kenton cut it to 3-2. But the Colonels added two runs in the top of the seventh.
Senior left fielder Nolan Schreiber led Simon Kenton at the plate going 2 for 4 with one run scored. Senior first baseman Peyton Fernbach and senior catcher Thomas Lind had doubles.
Senior Hunter Parks (0-1) pitched five innings to start the game for Simon Kenton. He struck out two, walked four and allowed one earned run and four hits. Senior Logan Grubenhoff pitched the last two striking out one, walking one and allowing two hits and two earned runs.
Covington Catholic travels to Newport Central Catholic (3-0) on Tuesday. Game time is 5 p.m.
Simon Kenton plays host to Bishop Brossart (2-3) on Tuesday. Game time is 5 p.m.
Dixie Heights 13, Frederick Douglass 9:
The Colonels (3-0) scored four runs in the top of the sixth to pull away for the win over the Broncos (4-1).
Dixie Heights batted .333 (11 for 33) at the plate and took advantage of three Broncos errors scoring four unearned runs. On the other side, Frederick Douglass scored three unearned runs off five Colonel errors.
Senior shortstop Jay Flynn led the way going 4 for 5 with two runs scored and an RBI. Senior pitcher/first baseman Logan Wilson went 3 for 5 with one double, two RBI and two runs scored. Senior center fielder Gabe Thelen went 2 for 3 with two RBI and one run scored. Junior catcher Ethan Bosley had a triple, two RBI and scored twice. Senior first baseman Jason Kreinbrink scored twice and drove in two with senior left fielder Brandon Brooks scoring twice.
Dixie Heights used five pitchers in the win. But sophomore Brach Rice (1-0) picked up the win pitching the fifth inning. Senior Brendon Cullen pitched the final two innings striking out one and allowing no hits and two walks.
Dixie Heights travels to Cooper (1-1) on Wednesday. Game time is 5:30 p.m.
Softball:
Scott 19, Dayton 3 (3 innings):
The Eagles (5-3) took care of business quickly on the cold day against the Devils (1-2). They also put together a celebration of Lisa Brewer’s 20th season as head coach at Scott.
“I think we were all just really focused going into the game,” said Kayla Overman, Scott junior right fielder. “We definitely wanted to win for our coach. We all wanted to get big hits. She’s coached over 450 games with more than 80 players going through her program.”
Sophomore Emma Scribner (4-1) pitched the first two innings striking out three and allowing just one hit and one walk for Scott. Eighth grader Scarlett Cochran pitched the third striking out two to go with two walks, one earned run and two hits.
Scott batted .667 (12 for 18) at the plate and saw three players record multi-hit games. Overman went 2 for 3 with a triple, one RBI and two runs scored. Sophomore second baseman/shortstop Ivy Cochran went 3 for 3 with five RBI, one double and two runs scored. Freshman center fielder Elise Manhardt went 2 for 3 with three RBI and two runs scored.
“They bounced back from the weekend awesome,” Brewer said. “We struggled the first inning at the plate trying to get used to Dayton’s pitcher. But then we had some nice hits.”
Scott also took advantage of five walks and four stolen bases. Senior third baseman Riley Reeves stole two bases to lead the Eagles.
Scott led 1-0 after one inning. But the Eagles exploded for 18 in the bottom of the second.
Although sunny, the temperatures stood in the 40s. But the weather is expected to warm up Wednesday.
“They definitely need to be wearing their cold gear,” Brewer said. “We had a couple of them that had their hoodies on or their jackets on when they were in the field. Even though the sun was out, it was pretty chilly because the wind was blowing. But they adjusted well. They just had to make sure when they were at the plate that they didn’t grip the bat too hard because it’s going to sting in this cold weather.”
Dayton has been awarded a win as a result of a Newport forfeit Tuesday to start the 9th Region All “A” Classic. Sophomore third baseman Zoe Sparks scored Dayton’s lone run in the top of the third when freshman center fielder Tayah Smith singled her home. The next game for the Devils is Wednesday at Calvary Christian (0-2-1) at 5 p.m.
Scott faces Simon Kenton (4-3) on Tuesday. Game time is 5:30 p.m.
Other Monday, March 28 NKY Baseball Scores:
St. Henry 10, Ludlow (5 innings)
Villa Madonna 9, Lloyd Memorial 8
Walton-Verona 16, Grant County 1 (4 innings)
Calvary Christian 6, Pendleton County 1
Other Monday, March 28 NKY Softball Scores:
Highlands 1, Newport 0 (forfeit)
Bellevue 18, Holmes 6 (6 innings)
Holy Cross 15, Gallatin County 11
Villa Madonna 9, Beechwood 5
Williamstown 15, Ludlow 0 (4 innings)
Bishop Brossart 11, Cincinnati (Ohio) McNicholas 1
Walton-Verona 11, Grant County 5