Down 7-2 heading into the bottom of the 5th inning to the combined Mercer-Princeton baseball team on Tuesday night, the Trenton Bulldogs were staring at a two-game losing streak headed into postseason play, and needed a spark.
The spark was ignited by a rally-starting double by first baseman Avery Cooksey that drove in Jesse Farmer to open the 5th inning, with an RBI single by Hunter Dugan (scoring Cooksey) and a run-scoring single by Cole Schilling cutting the lead to 7-5.
With Trenton’s pitching getting stronger at the night progressed, the home team tied the game in the bottom of the 6th inning, as a wild pitch with the bases loaded scored Farmer, while a throwing error on the same play scored Cooksey, leaving the score 7-7.
Not only with his bat, but also with his arm, Cooksey provided strong late-game play for THS, firing two innings (7th and 8th) of one-hit, shutout baseball to keep the game tied.
Trenton won in the bottom of the 8th inning, as a single by Quincy Griffin sandwiched two walks (one intentional), loading the bases with no outs. After a pop-out to first by Colton Colston, Cole Schilling hit a hard ground-ball to the Mercer shortstop, with Cooksey beating the throw to the plate, giving the Bulldogs a thrilling 8-7 triumph.
Mercer, a team that officially goes play the “Cardinal” nickname and wears red, has approximately 75 percent of its roster from Princeton, as the baseball program is a cooperative program between the two Mercer County school districts. The Cardinals scored twice in the first inning off of Trenton starter Cole Schilling, as Cameron Jones came in on a fielder’s choice grounder by Logan Boxley, and Zeb Schwartzkopf (the Mercer starting pitcher) scored on a wild pitch. The lead ballooned to 5-0 in the third inning on three Mercer runs, scored via a fielder’s choice grounder, a single by Cam Hartley, and a wild pitch. Trenton scored single runs in the 3rd and 4th innings, only to see Mercer score single tallies in the 4th and 5th, with both runners reaching base via the rare “strikeout-wild pitch” scenario.
The loss drops Mercer-Princeton to 3-8 on the season. The Cardinals will open district play on Friday afternoon in Edina, Missouri, playing the Canton Tigers. The Bulldogs travel to Lathrop for district play on Friday night, playing the LeBlond Golden Eagles in a 7 o’clock first pitch on Hot Country Z 101.7. Tuesday night’s Senior Night affair was broadcast on KTTN FM 92.3.
