Orioles Offense Rolls; Wins in Late Inning Comeback

Orioles Offense Rolls; Wins in Late Inning Comeback

A lot of people talk about how defense wins championships, however Lennox’s defense has not been the problem this season. This season, Lennox has had trouble with their offense. They have given up games where the other team scores six or five and Lennox can’t win because they didn’t have the offense to back it up. However, on Friday Lennox found a way to get runs across the plate.

The Canton C-Hawks called upon Senior Carter Dahl to pitch vs Senior Grant Sweeter for the Orioles. In the top of the first, Leisinger and Sweeter walked which was followed by a single by Raysby. With the bases loaded, Hood hit a sacrifice fly to center to score and make it one to zero Lennox. In the bottom of the first, Canton earned two singles, two walks and a hit by pitch to score two and take the two to one lead. Three walks and an error would score Nick Kayl and put Braedon Wallenstein on third and Derrick Van Ningen on second. Oldenkamp’s fly out to the pitcher was out number one and Leisinger’s strike out was out number two. Sweeter’s two RBI single to center made it four to two Lennox. In the bottom of the second, two singles and one walk led to a two run inning and tie game at four a piece.

Austin Rhode would come into pitch for Canton in the third, Stein’s strikeout, Kayl’s walk, Wallenstein’s strikeout and Van Ningen’s strikeout ended the inning quite easily. However, a single surrounded by two ground outs and a strikeout led to an easy inning for Sweeter. In the top of the fourth, Leisinger’s walk and Raysby single led to another run and a five to four lead for Lennox. In the fifth, two singles and an error on Wallenstein led to Carter Dahl scoring and a tie game at five each. In the fifth, Kayl’s single, Wallenstein’s hit by pitch and Buckneberg reaching on error scores Kayl and puts runners on second and third with zero outs. Oldenkamp would eat an RBI single and then steal second to put runners on second and third with 0 outs. Leisinger walked to load the bases, and Sweeter hit a sac fly that led to Buckneberg being retired at the plate for outs number one and two. Raysby grounded out to end it. Sweeter found a rhythm with a thirteen pitch inning and two strikeouts to end the fifth easily.

In the sixth, the Orioles got two on however they couldn’t score. In the bottom of the sixth, Sweeter had reached the pitch limit so Oldenkamp came into the game to pitch. Canton would get a double, a single, and two walks to score three runs and take an eight to seven lead for Canton. Needing a comeback, Lennox sent up the top of the order to start it. Oldenkamp hit single to center and Leisinger walked. Sweeter would take a hit by pitch and Raysby would earn a walk to tie it up at eight to eight. Then, Senior Delane Hood would come up and hit a two RBI single to right field and make the score ten to eight Lennox. The Orioles would leave the bases loaded as Buckneberg struck out looking to end the inning. In the bottom of the seventh, a strikeout and a fly out made two outs. Then Tommy Woods earned base on a dropped third strike. However, on a passed ball, Tommy Woods stole second and rounded hard, Oldenkamp caught it and flung it to Sweeter at second who quickly dove on Woods and tagged him out to end the game. The Orioles had won ten to eight. Lennox had their first win of the season thanks to Sweeter and Oldenkamp’s pitching performances that allowed Canton to only score eight runs. The Orioles ended up with seven hits and Oldenkamp had two, Sweeter had one, Raysby had two, Hood had one and Kayl had one as well. Raysby also had one RBI, Hood had two RBI’s, Sweeter had one RBI, and Oldenkamp had a RBI. Lennox was very pleased to play so well and earn a team win.