Bulls edge Martins
Simon Heuer - Sentinel Sports InternFAIRMONT - The Fairmont Martins were one hit away from coming all the way back from an early deficit Wednesday night at Cardinal Park.
"We never quit," said Fairmont amateur baseball player/coach Scott Chirpich. "Good teams find a way to win. We were just one hit away."
The Jackson Bulls jumped on starter Ian Bents for six straight singles with one out in the top of the first inning to put Fairmont in an early 5-0 hole en route to a 7-6 victory over the Martins.
Fairmont scored one run in the third when Andy Williamson hit Chirpich home from first. Williamson hit a routine single, but a collision in the outfield allowed Chirpich to score and Williamson to advance to second.
Matt Bauer reached on an error in the fifth and advanced to third on a Taylor Nawrocki single and Mike Peters' sacrifice bunt. Chirpich hit a groundout to second, scoring Bauer to make it 5-2.
Jackson starter Tom Hady only allowed two runs on two hits in seven innings of work.
After a shaky first inning, Bents retired 14 of the next 15 batters he faced.
"Ian really settled down and gave us a chance to win," Chirpich said.
Bents ran into a little trouble again in the sixth, surrendering two runs on two hits. Peters relieved Bents in the eighth and pitched two perfect innings with two strikeouts.
Once Hady left the game, the Fairmont bats came alive. After falling behind 7-2, the Martins strung together four consecutive singles in the bottom of the eighth. Two runs were scored on singles by Williamson and Pete Bissen.
Tyler Nawrocki hit a fly ball to left field that was lost in the lights and dropped for a hit, allowing Williamson and Bissen to score to bring the Martins within one.
With two on and two out in the bottom of the ninth, the Martins' rally was stopped short by Jackson reliever Marcus Schultz, who finally struck out Bissen after he hit eight consecutive foul balls.
Chirpich led Fairmont with three hits and Williamson added two. Corey Polz provided the power for Jackson with a home run in the sixth and two RBIs.
A win would have secured a First Nite League championship for the Martins.
Now Fairmont needs to win the remaining league games on its schedule to secure the championship and homefield advantage throughout the amateur baseball playoffs.
The Martins (10-4) play Fox Lake in Welcome at 4 p.m. Sunday.
Jackson 500 002 000 - 7 9 1
Fairmont 001 010 040 - 6 10 0
Tom Hady (WP), Pat Boggess (8), Marcus Schultz (8) and Blaise Jacobsen. Ian Bents (LP), Mike Peters (8) and Andy Williamson.
LOBFairmont 6, Jackson 2. 2BJacobsen (J). HRCorey Polz (J). SACPolz (J), Grant Carlson (J), Jordan Lewis (J), Mike Peters (F).
VFW Baseball
Fairmont 16, Wells 2 -Justin Heinrich pounded out three hits, including a home run and a double, to generate a game-leading five RBIs to guide Fairmont VFW Post 1222 to a 16-2, five-inning triumph over Wells on Wednesday night in Wells.
Max Waletich went 3-for-4, scored three runs and drove in two more runs for Post 1222, while teammate Tyler Beck generated three hits and one run in four official at-bats.
Jon Ellis, Joe Duflo, Conner Guetter and Richie Haycraft each supplied two hits to Fairmont's 21-hit offensive explosion.
Post 1222 erupted for seven runs in the first inning, generated six more during the top of the second, delivered two runs in the fourth, and capped its scoring with a solo run in the fifth to end the game via the 10-run rule.
Fairmont starting pitcher Joey Fitzgerald allowed one run on three hits and recorded four strikeouts in three innings of work to earn the victory.
Beck notched six strikeouts and allowed one run on three hits in two innings of relief for Post 1222.
Fairmont (10-5) plays host to St. Peter at 6:30 p.m. next Wednesday night at Cardinal Park in Fairmont.
Fairmont 760 21 16 21 0
Wells 100 10 2 6 2
