The Redlegs ended the 2021 regular season on a high note,
defeating the Dayton Stars by a final score of 13-7. The
win pushed the Redlegs record to 16-7, good enough to
earn the #2 seed moving into the playoffs.
It wasn’t an easy victory though, as the hungry Stars
came out red hot and immediately scored 7 runs in the top
of the 1st inning. The shock wore off quickly, and
Camden quickly delivered a counterpunch in the bottom of
the 2nd as they scored 5 runs of their own. Jacob
Robinson started the inning with a single, Brad Malott
reached on an error and Kyle Arend singled to load the
bases. Mike Hartman then would drive in a run on a
groundout, and then a 2nd run scored on the play due to
an overthrow at 1st base. Tyler Eaton later doubled in
two more runs.
Kevin Campbell took the hill, fresh off of 3 innings of
work on Thursday, and looked to stop the bleeding as
Camden tried to mount their comeback. He pitched a
scoreless 2nd, 3rd, and 4th before the Redlegs finally
gave him a lead in the bottom of the 4th. Tyler Eaton
reached on an error and James Robinson singled, and later
both scored thanks to a sacrifice fly by each Kevin
Campbell and Brad Malott.
With the score now tied at 7, Campbell went back out and
tossed a scoreless 5th. The offense then gave him a lead
in the bottom half. Kyle Arend was plunked to lead
things off, followed by a single by Brandon Howard.
After a flyout, Jesse Jones drove both runs home with a
double. Tyler Eaton then singled Jones home for his 3rd
RBI of the day.
Campbell then completed his 5th scoreless inning in the
6th which would eventually earn him his first victory of
the 2021 season the 45th of his career. Overall, he went
5 innings with 4 strikeouts and allowed just two hits.
Camden scored two more runs in the bottom of the 6th.
Evan Koogler laced a triple down the right field line to
begin the inning, and then scored on a single by Jacob
Robinson. Robinson swiped 2nd, moved to 3rd on a passed
ball, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Kyle Arend.
Koogler then took over in relief of Campbell and tossed
the final 3 frames of the game, allowing 0 hits and
striking out 4 Stars hitters in the process. He earned
his first save of the season for his effort.
The Redlegs final run came in the 8th when Cody Saraco-
Polner was hit by a pitch, swiped his 2nd bag of the day,
and was later driven in on a sacrifice fly by Evan
Koogler.
The Redlegs will take on the 7 seed Mad River Machine in
the 1st round of the playoffs on Saturday at 1:00pm at
Madison High School. Game two of the double header is
scheduled to begin at 4:00pm.
Boxscore
| J Robinson | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| B Malott | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| K Arend | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| B Howard | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| M Hartman | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| J Jones | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| T Eaton | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| J Robinson | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| C Saraco-Polner | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| K Campbell | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| E Koogler | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| L Smith | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2B: Howard; Jones; Eaton
3B: Koogler
| L Smith | 1 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 3 |
| K Campbell (W) | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| E Koogler (S) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |