GREENVILLE – The Greenville Green Wave showed resilience and offensive firepower Wednesday night, rallying from an early deficit to defeat the visiting West Carrollton Pirates 14-4 in a five-inning run-rule Miami Valley League contest.
West Carrollton jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning, stringing together timely hits, including an RBI single from Aiden Richards, to put Greenville on its heels before the Wave came to the plate.
The Green Wave answered with a four-run bottom of the first to even the score. Isaac Kerg sparked the rally with a one-out double to left field, while Gibson Steyer was hit by a pitch to put two aboard. The duo executed a double steal, and Isaac Kerg later raced home on a wild pitch. Michael Fox drew a walk to load the bases, and Steyer came home on another wild pitch.
Greenville continued to capitalize on Pirate miscues, as a misplayed ground ball off the bat of Drew Newland allowed Fox to score. JiJi Jim followed with a groundout that plated Ethan Jones, knotting the game at 4-4 after one inning.
Greenville erupted for five runs on just two hits in the bottom of the inning, taking advantage of patience at the plate and aggressive baserunning. Singles by Brody Baumann and Kerg highlighted the frame as Greenville surged ahead 9-4.
The momentum carried into the third inning when Kerg added a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 10-4.
Greenville put the game away in the fourth, scoring four more runs behind a string of base hits from JiJi Jim, Baumann, Chilli Jasenski, and Steyer to trigger the run rule.
On the mound, Malieki Rhoades delivered a strong relief performance to earn the win. The right-hander tossed four shutout innings, allowing no hits while striking out four and walking two. Starter Johnathan Male worked the opening inning, surrendering four runs (three earned) on two hits.
At the plate, Greenville pounded out 10 hits, with Jasenski, Kerg, Steyer, and Baumann each collecting two hits. JiJi Jim, Kerg, and Steyer drove in two runs apiece, while Fox showed patience with two walks. As a team, the Wave drew seven walks and stole five bases.
“The beginning of the first, that’s our thing—we come out and let one thing compound into something else,” said Greenville coach Chad Henry. “But like we’ve done all year, we came back and fought. We just kept scoring from there.”
Henry also praised Rhoades’ consistency out of the bullpen.
“Any kind of situation, we need somebody to come in there and compete—that’s Malieki,” Henry said. “He’s really good coming in and finishing games. He just does his job, and good things happen for him.”
Despite the convincing win, Henry noted the team is still working toward consistency.
“We lost seven games by a combined 10 runs,” Henry said. “We knew it was going to be rough this year with what we lost, but we are competing. We’re doing a lot of things right—we just have to put it all together.”
With the win, Greenville continues to build momentum as the season progresses, showing the ability to battle back and capitalize on opportunities at the plate.
BOX SCORE:
123 456 7 R H E
400 00X X 4 2 3 West Carrollton
451 4XX X 14 10 1 Greenville
