Ashton Schmutz of Marysville slides safely into the plate Friday evening. The Monarchs rallied to defeat Dublin Jerome, 8-6. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
It was gut-check time for Marysville High School’s baseball squad on Friday.
The Monarchs held a 3-2 edge after five innings, only to allow Dublin Jerome to take a 6-3 lead after the visitors’ portion of the fourth.
MHS coach Nick Blake had to be wondering… how would his team respond?
The way the Monarchs did brought a smile to the coach’s face after an 8-6 triumph over the Celtics.
“We responded well when Jerome took the lead and played well enough at the end to win the game,” said Blake as Marysville evened its record at 5-5.
It took a solo homer by Jack Christian to tie the contest at 6-6 in the bottom of the sixth.
A balk and a base hit by R.J. Thornton brought in the runs that gave the Monarchs an 8-6 margin by the end of the frame.
Christian then came on in relief in the top of the seventh to notch the save for winning pitcher Bailey Wade.
Both squads went through a trio of hurlers.
MHS starter Justin DeHoff and his Celtic counterpart, Sam Stoner, battled to a 1-1 deadlock through the first two innings.
The Celtics plated the game’s initial run in the top of the opening inning.
DeHoff started the contest by plunking lead-off batter Stoner.
Stoner advanced to second on a wild pitch and took third on a flyball out.
With two down, Caden Lockwood singled for a 1-0 Jerome lead.
DeHoff ended the inning with a grounder.
The Monarchs answered with a run of their own in the home half of the inning.
With one down, Christian Colvin ripped a single and went to third on a base hit by Tristan Burns.
Wade followed with a base hit that tied the game at 1-all.
A walk to Thornton loaded the bases.
Stoner, though, got out of the jam with a third-out flyball.
Both pitchers allowed base runners during the second, but kept the scoreboard clean.
DeHoff induced a ball to the infield to begin the top of the third.
He suddenly, however, had trouble finding the strike zone.
DeHoff issued a pair of walks before fanning a batter for the second out.
He walked another batter to juice the sacks.
DeHoff issued his fourth free pass to bring in the run that gave Jerome a 2-1 margin.
At that point, Blake summoned Wade to pitch.
“We can’t give up free bases,” said the coach.
Wade coaxed a popup that stranded a trio of Jerome runners.
The fourth frame flew by without any scoring.
Wade held Dublin Jerome in check during the top of the fifth.
Marysville (which will host Dublin Coffman today at 2 p.m.) plated a pair of runs in the home half of the fifth.
Colvin reached base on an error.
A single by Christian and another Celtic fielding miscue allowed Colvin to race home and tie the game at 2-2.
Christian was perched on second when Egan O’Hara came on as a reliever.
O’Hara was greeted by Burns’ single that gave MHS a 3-2 edge.
The Celtics got out of further damage with a pair of grounders.
MHS’ lead did not look comfortable on the scoreboard as action moved to the top of the sixth.
As a matter of fact, things got mighty uncomfortable for MHS when the Celtics scored four times against Wade.
With one down, Jerome hit back-to-back singles.
A sacrifice bunt gave Dublin its second out, but put two runners in scoring position.
Blake ordered an intentional walk to Stoner in an effort to force the third out at any base.
The move backfired in a big way.
Wade hit a batter that brought in the tying (3-3) and freebie run.
A pair of additional base hits accounted for three more scores as the Celtics went on top, 6-3.
Marysville got the final out when a Jerome base runner was caught trying for third base.
The Monarchs had their backs to the wall as the Celtics took their three-run lead into the bottom of the sixth.
The never-say-die Monarchs, however, rallied in a huge way.
Zach Monnin drew a walk to begin the inning.
Schmutz singled and eventually landed on third when Jerome committed an error.
In the meantime, Monnin scored to narrow MHS’ deficit to 6-4.
Jerome got the first out on a fielder’s choice.
Colvin’s sacrifice fly, however, cut MHS’ gap to 6-5 when Schmutz kicked up a bunch of dust and was safe at home.
The brought Christian to the plate.
He worked the count to 3-1 before launching the next pitch deep to left field.
The ball cleared the fence as Christian’s solo dinger tied the score at 6-6.
That brought in Jerome’s third hurler, Andrew Barney.
Burns greeted him by legging out a bunt single.
A two-bagger from Wade put runners at second and third.
A balk by Barney pushed Burns home for the go-ahead run and advanced Wade to third.
Thornton singled in the run that gave MHS an 8-6 advantage.
Chase Storr singled, but Dublin escaped further damage with a popout.
With a two-run lead, Blake went with Christian’s trusty right arm.
The Monarch senior fanned a batter and induced a grounder.
He surrendered a harmless walk and then got a groundball out to save the game for winning pitcher Wade.
The Monarchs finished the day with 11 hits.
“Our approaches at the plate were good all night,” said Blake. “We made good things happen.”
DC 101 004 0-6 5 4
MHS 100 025 x-8 11 0
WP-Wade
LP-Barney
SV-Christian