The Redlegs looked sharp for 8 innings on Sunday as they
bested the Kettering Royals by a final score of 11 to 9.
The 9th inning was rocky, but the Redlegs had enough
cushion to escape with a sorely needed win after two
tough opening day losses.
The Redlegs took an early lead in the bottom of the 1st.
Jackson Millard and Kyle Arend were both hit by pitches
and both scored on a two-out double to right center by
Kyle Weldon. Matt Morrison made it a 3-0 game on a two-
out single in the bottom of the 4th. In the 5th, Kyle
Arend doubled in a run and Brandon Howard scored a run
with a deep sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 5-0.
It looked like the Redlegs put the nail in the coffin in
the bottom of the 6th by plating 5 more runs to build the
lead up to 10-0. The inning began with 3 straight
doubles from Brad Clark, James Robinson (RBI), and Matt
Morrison. Robinson was gunned down at the plate and took
a spike to the finger on the slide. He was removed from
the game and is considered day to day with the injury.
Kyle Arend rounded out the scoring in the frame with a 2
run double. Jacob Robinson drove in Matt Mattice in the
8th to push the lead to 11-0.
Meanwhile, Kevin Campbell was turning in a terrific
outing as he continued to keep the Royal offense off the
scoreboard. He also flashed some nice glove work in the
3rd to help himself out of a jam when he made a diving
snag on a grounder that might have gotten into "no man's
land" between 1st and 2nd. Battery mate Jackson Millard
contributed in the 3rd as well by nailing the Royals
speedy lead-off man Paul Sains trying to swipe 2nd base.
Through 8 innings Campbell allowed 7 hits, struck out 5,
and didn't walk a single batter. He took his shutout bid
into the 9th, but the Royals offense caught fire and
started a rally that almost produced an epic comeback.
The Royals recorded for straight hits to start the
inning, followed by an error, and a walk. With 3 runs
already scored and the bases loaded, the Redlegs turned
to Matt Mattice to get out of the jam. Mattice got the
first batter to hit a slow bouncer between the mound and
home plate which he scooped up and ran to the plate to
get the force out and keep a run from scoring. The
Royals then got a single and a walk, followed by what
looked a game ending double play but the batter was able
to beat out the throw to 1st to keep the inning alive.
Next came another error that yielded 2 more runs and
prompted the entrance of Kyle Weldon. Weldon was greeted
by a bloop single off the bat of Evan Koogler that scored
a run, but Weldon got the next batter to ground out to
2nd to end the game and earn the save.
The Redlegs will look to keep it going next week in a
double dip against the Wild Boars at 1:00 and 4:00 on
Sunday, April 24th at Belmont High School.
Boxscore
| J Robinson | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| J Millard | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| K Arend | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| B Howard | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| K Weldon | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| B Clark | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| J Robinson | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| M Morrison | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| M Mattice | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| M Redman | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| G Pfeiffer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2B: Arend 2; Weldon; Clark; Robinson; Morrison
| K Campbell (W) | 8 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 1 |
| M Mattice | 0.67 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| K Weldon (S) | 0.33 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |