Marysville catcher Chase Kilgore catches a foul ball for an out Saturday afternoon at Upper Arlington. The Monarchs fell, 6-4.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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The Marysville High School baseball team hit another bump on the Ohio Capital Conference Central Division trail Saturday afternoon.
After winning their first seven divisional games of the 2018 season, the Monarchs dropped their second straight OCC contest by a 6-4 verdict at Upper Arlington.
The game was originally scheduled to be played last Thursday, but was rescheduled for Saturday on the Golden Bears’ diamond.
MHS pitcher Garrett North got off to a rocky start as UA plated a trio of runs in the home half of the opening inning.
The first two batters, Brandon Horsley and Mason Ward, respectively reached base on a walk and hit batsman.
North got a fly ball out, but yielded a run-producing single to Tommy Dilz.
A fielder’s choice put runners at second and third before Kyle Hench gave the Golden Bears a 3-0 lead with a base hit.
Upper Arlington increased its lead to 4-0 during the second inning on an error and base hit from Horsley.
UA maintained its advantage through the first three innings as Hench did not have much trouble with the Monarch bats from his perch on the mound.
He gave up a base hit to Jack Christian and hit Jacob Wright with a pitch during the first frame.
Connor Parks singled in the second, but that was about all the noise Marysville’s offense made during that stretch.
The Monarchs finally made a dent in the scoreboard with a pair of runs in the visitors’ portion of the fourth inning.
Gavin Sharp singled with one out and advanced to second on Hench’s wild pitch.
The second out of the inning came on a fly ball before Parks singled in Sharp and went to second on a Golden Bear fielding miscue.
Michael Bonczak then doubled in Parks as the Monarchs halved their deficit to 4-2.
North was able to keep the Golden Bears off the scoreboard during the third through fifth innings.
He escaped a two-out, bases-loaded jam in the third after issuing a pair of walks and plunking another batter.
A groundball out kept UA from scoring.
A couple of defensive gems assisted North during innings four and five.
Bonczak made a brilliant diving catch in centerfield for the third out of the fourth.
Catcher Chase Kilgore snared a foul ball popup behind the dish that also helped stop the UA offense.
The Monarchs pulled to within 5-3 with a run during their portion of the fifth inning.
Kilgore doubled with one out and went to third when Christian legged out an infield hit.
Hench got the second out of the inning on a fly ball,
Kilgore scored, though, before Christian, who intentionally got caught in a rundown between first and second, could be tagged for the third out.
The momentum appeared to be shifting toward the Monarchs until the Golden Bears scored twice in the sixth.
With one down, North issued a walk to Horsely and yielded a single to Ward.
Relief pitcher Tate Virts hit Jacob Leve with a pitch to juice the sacks.
Dilz then singled to give Upper Arlington a 6-3 lead.
The Golden Bears tried a squeeze play, but Kilgore snared a foul ball and rifled it down to third base. That doubled up the runner and completed the inning-ending twin killing.
The Monarchs plated one final run in the top of the seventh.
Pinch-hitter Anthony DiDonato singled and was replaced on the bases by Bonczak, who re-entered the game.
Bonczak went to second on a wild pitch and took third on a fielder’s choice.
He then scored on Kilgore’s base hit.
“Garrett settled down on the mound and kept us in the game,” said MHS coach Mark Brunswick. “The bottom line, though, was that we gave up too many runs.”
The loss dropped the Monarchs’ overall record to 11-5 and their OCC Central mark to 7-2.
They are currently one game behind Hilliard Davidson in the divisional standings.
MHS will play at Davidson this afternoon.
“Going forward we have to know how to handle adversity,” said Brunswick. “It’s not going to be up to the coaches. The guys have to get after it and do the right things.
“It’s up to our captains and our senior leadership,” he said. “We still have plenty of baseball left to play.
“You have to be ready to play the next day.”