Wildcats suffer two conference losses
By Aleksei Pavloff, Richwood Gazette
North Union’s baseball program suffered two conference losses last week.
The Wildcats lost both Central Buckeye Conference matchups on the road to Graham (3-2) last Wednesday and Kenton Ridge (9-1) last Thursday.
The shortcomings put the team’s regular season record at 1-14 overall and 0-10 in Central Buckeye Conference matchups.
Wildcats fall to Falcons
After losing to the Falcons a few days prior, North Union was back on the road this time visiting the same opponent.
The matchup was just as close as the last as Graham tied the game in the sixth inning before winning it in the bottom of the eighth.
The Falcons jumped again with an RBI by Adam Levy to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
The Wildcats bounced back to take the lead in the top of the second. The team saw back-to-back RBIs by Peyton Davis and Owen Wills to jump into the driver’s seat leading 2-1.
The Falcons tied the game in the bottom of the sixth, 2-2, off an RBI by Jack Traylor.
A scoreless seventh inning from both teams prompted extra time on the field.
Graham claimed a walk off win in the bottom of the last inning by way of a single by Brody Jenkins with Holden Dunham running for the score.
On the hill, Tyler Krebehenne pitched the whole game claiming 10 strikeouts and two walks while allowing three runs on eight hits.
Krebehenne and Miles Marlette held the most hits with two each against the Falcons.
NU
020 00 00-2-9-2
Graham
100 001 01-3-8-0
Wildcats fall to Cougars
North Union struggled to generate much offense against the Cougars a day after losing to Graham.
The home team secured a two-run lead in the bottom of the second inning on RBIs from Zach Deel and Cyrus Worley.
The lead was padded in the bottom of the fourth after an RBI from Jake Beard lifted the margin to 3-0.
The bottom half of the fifth inning saw Kenton Ridge tally another four runs, putting its upper hand at 7-0.
North Union’s only score of the night came on a sacrifice fly by Marlette, giving Krebehenne the wiggle room to score.
The Cougars scored twice more in the bottom of the sixth inning before ultimately taking the eight-run victory.
Four Wildcat batters recorded one hit, including Krebehenne, Ashtin Haubiel, Blaine Ware and Braylen Riffle.
Riffle stood on the mound for the majority of the game.
He pitched four innings and recording three strikeouts and three walks. He allowed three runs on four hits.
Davis and Jaxon Mabery also saw mound duty.
They combined for one walk and allowed six runs on seven hits.
North Union will be back on its home field Wednesday against Springfield Shawnee.
NU
000 001 0 – 1-3-1
KR
020 142 0 – 9-13-2
