GREENVILLE – The Green Wave defeated the visiting West Carrollton Pirates 7-5 in a Monday night MVL varsity baseball matchup.
“The boys came out and played good baseball for the most part,” said Greenville coach Adam Eberwein.
West Carrollton got on the board in the top of the first inning to lead 1-0 with the Wave coming to the plate. Greenville got the run back in their half of the inning with a two-out single off the bat of Isaac Kerg and a Braeden Will RBI double to center.
Titus Eberwein set the Pirates down in order at the top of the second with a popup and back-to-back strikeouts.
Greenville plated three runs in the bottom of the inning with Owen McGreevey reaching by way of an error, a Charlie Jasenski single, Adam Edwards hit by a pitch, and Eberwein’s RBI single to left. Michael Fox knocked in a run with a ground out to first, and Kerg picked up an RBI with a fielder’s choice to short, giving the Wave a 4-1 advantage.
The Wave tacked on two runs in the bottom of the third with a Colton Oswalt leadoff single, a Jasenski single to left, an Edwards single to left, and Oswalt scoring on a pickoff attempt at second. Eberwein plated the final run of the inning and game with a RBI single to center, giving Greenville a 7-1 lead.
The Pirates plated three runs in the fourth and a single run in the sixth with Oswalt shutting down the Pirates in the top of the seventh, including two strikeouts to preserve the Greenville win.
“We need to play a little more consistently,” said Eberwein. “We’ve played a few games recently, and we’ve been consistent, hitting the ball and scoring runs consistently. Tonight we went back to that roller coaster effect, being consistent for three innings, then dipping back down and trying to pick ourselves back up – it’s kinda of hard to pick yourself back up once you go down.”
Greenville committed five errors on the night that led to five unearned runs.
“Sometimes you get a little anxious and the ball comes out of your hand a little different than what it normally does, but for the most part, I thought we played pretty well defensively,” Eberwein noted. “We had a few mistakes here and there, but it happens.”
Titus Eberwein earned the win, tossing 5.0 innings, allowing no earned runs on five hits, two walks, 1 HBP, and eight strikeouts. Michael Fox threw 1.0 innings of no-run ball, two hits, and no walks. Cole Oswalt earned the save going 1.0 of scoreless ball, allowing 1 hit, no walks, and two strikeouts.
“Titus did a decent job pitching, and then Fox came in and did real well,” said Eberwein, “but he jammed his shoulder going back into first base when he was on the base paths so I brought Cole Oswalt who is our best pitcher and come out did what he was supposed to do.”
Eberwein led Greenville at the plate, going 3-3 with 3 RBIs and a run scored. Jasenski was 2-3 with a run; Oswalt 1-2 with a run; Fox 1-4, 1 RBI; Kerg 1-3, a double and an RBI; Edwards 1-2 and 2 runs; Wills 1-4, a double, 1 RBI; Mcgreevey 1 run.
Greenville sophomore catcher Isaac Kerg kept the Pirates’ baserunners in check, throwing two runners out in attempted steals of second.
“This year with Isaac behind the dish, he’s a tough catcher, he’s a hard-nosed kid, he loves to compete, and he’s a tough kid to steal bases on,” said Coach Eberwein. “Even the best in the league sometimes struggle with him. It takes good timing for those things to happen.”
BOX SCORE:
123 456 7 R H E
100 301 0 5 8 2 West Carrollton
133 000 X 7 10 5 Greenville
