The Trenton Bulldogs and North Andrew Cardinals locked horns in a back-and-forth, high-scoring baseball affair on Monday night at Burleigh Grimes Field. By the time the smoke had cleared, and three hours had passed, the Bulldogs survived the nine-inning game by a final score of 15-14.
In action heard on KTTN FM 92.3, both teams were able to get early offense going, with two passed balls in the top of the first inning, combined with a leadoff single by Drake Eychaner and a RBI groundout, giving the Cardinals the 1-0 lead. Trenton responded with two 2nd inning runs to grab the lead, as Colton Colston led off with a triple, and scored on a fielding error. A single by Chase Otto drove in Cole Schilling with the go-ahead run.
Bulldog starter Chase Otto was unable to keep the lead, as the Cardinals scored a single run in the visitors 3rd to tie the game at 2, only to have Trenton, on an RBI single by Colston, reclaim the lead (3-2) in the bottom half of the frame.
The game went “wacky” in the visiting fourth, when North Andrew stunned Trenton with six runs, while the Bulldogs suffered from “self-inflicted” wounds, with three errors adding to the Trenton difficulties. Jesse Farmer started the fourth from the pitching mound, and lasted just 1/3 of an inning before being replaced by Cole Schilling. Down 8-3 heading to the bottom of the 4th, Trenton responded with three runs, cutting the North Andrew advantage to 8-6.
Back-to-back two run innings by the Cardinals seemed to thwart Trenton’s momentum, as North Andrew headed to the bottom of the 6th inning with a seemingly comfortable 12-6 lead. Sam Schilling led off the 6th for the Bulldogs, with Tom Johnson on the KTTN airwaves:
The ‘pitch count rule’ had forced Cardinal starting pitcher Orlo Simmons out of the game, and, working his first full inning, Eychaner struggled. Following Schilling’s double, Avery Cooksey, Quincy Griffin, and Hunter Dugan all walked, with Schilling scoring on a wild pitch, for Trenton’s 7th run. A single by Colston, followed by a single by Cole Schilling, brought Trenton even closer. Relief pitcher Levi Linville got Brice Gibler out on a sacrifice fly, but back-to-back walks to Jaren Whitney and Chase Otto brought Sam Schilling back to the plate for the second time in the inning. This time, Schilling struck out for the 2nd out of the frame.
With two outs and the bases loaded, Trenton trailed 12-11, as Avery Cooksey stepped in:
Trenton took the 14-12 lead to the top of the 7th inning, but the Cardinals rallied, as a two-run, two-out single by Hunter Simmons tied the game at 14, sending the contest to extra innings.
An “unsung hero” in Trenton’s win was Cooksey, not with his bases-clearing triple, but with his stalwart late-game pitching. Cooksey, with Trenton’s staff fatigued and overused, fired back-to-back scoreless innings in the 8th and 9th. North Andrew reliever Nic Crets walked the bases loaded around a Cole Schilling sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the 9th inning. With Jaren Whitney batting, a fastball buzzed behind the Bulldog batter and to the backstop, sending Dugan home with the game-winning run.
Trenton won the game despite walking three batters and committing eight errors. Cooksey got the victory for Trenton, with Crets saddled with the loss for now 2-5 North Andrew. Both teams finished with 12 hits in the game, with the Cardinals committing four errors and, in perhaps the biggest factor in Trenton’s win, walking 13 batters. The Bulldogs season record is now 5-10, heading into the Chillicothe Tournament later this week.
The top hitters in the game were Eychaner of North Andrew, with a 5 for 6 effort out of the leadoff spot, and Colston of Trenton, with a 5 for 5 game, including four singles and a triple, to go with a 9th inning walk.
