Perrysburg senior Matt Hubbard slides home safely, but it was not enough as the Yellow Jackets fell to Toledo Whitmer, 15-5, in Northern Lakes League action at Jim Leyland Field Tuesday.
By Nicholas Huenefeld
Special to the Sentinel-Tribune
PERRYSBURG — The Perrysburg baseball team surrendered 11 runs in the fourth inning Tuesday as Toledo Whitmer produced a 15-5 victory in five innings during a Northern Lakes League Buckeye Division game at Jim Leyland Family Field.
The Panthers had six players record multi-hit performances as they scored four in the third and 11 in the fourth to come back from a 3-0 deficit.
“They just hit the ball,” Perrysburg coach Dave Hall said. “They had a great two-strike approach, and they hit some shots. There wasn’t a whole lot defending it.”
The Yellow Jackets (5-2 overall, 1-1 NLL) produced a squeeze bunt from Quinn Weber to highlight a two-run first inning, and an RBI double from Jack Losee gave Perrysburg a 3-0 lead.
Whitmer’s starting pitcher, Cory Viola, then proceeded to walk a pair of batters as Perrysburg loaded the bases with two outs in the second frame. Viola, however, induced a groundout to third, which ended the threat.
“I thought if we could have got a big hit there and went up five or six, maybe we’d have been okay,” Hall said. “We didn’t, and they came back and got the four.”
The rally started when Whitmer’s Sean Doran tripled with the bases loaded to tie the game. Joseph Naparstek knocked him in with a two-out single moments later for a 4-3 lead.
Matt Hubbard’s two-out RBI triple in the bottom of the third tied the game back up, but Whitmer proceeded to send 15 batters to the plate in the fourth.
The Panthers had five extra base hits in the inning, including three triples. The first one was sandwiched between a pair of singles, which ultimately chased Hubbard, who started on the mound for Perrysburg.
Whitmer (5-0) then tallied four walks, two doubles and a triple before another pitching change. The Panthers tacked on a single and the third triple for a 15-4 lead.
Seven of the runs came with two outs in the inning.
Whitmer coach Brad Densmore was pleased with his team’s patience and two-strike hitting, especially coming off a game against Start on Saturday in which the Panthers left 15 runners on base.
“It was great hitting,” Densmore said. “We talked about what we needed to do. We needed to put the ball in play the opposite way, stay back and keep the eyes behind the ball. They finally did it today, and it paid off.”
Five players picked up one hit apiece for Perrysburg while Connor Kessinger reached base three times in large part due to a pair of walks.
Doran went 2-for-3 with two runs, five RBI and a walk to lead Whitmer offensively as five Panthers had at least two hits and two runs scored.
