Big fifth inning hands Cubs fifth win in six games topping Mansfield Christian

LUCAS — Whenever Keaton Day is given an opportunity to make a difference, he is ready to strike.

On Monday night in an 8-0 win over Mansfield Christian, Day was inserted in the bottom of the fifth inning with his Cubs leading 5-0 needing a game-changing hit with the bases loaded to put the Mid-Buckeye Conference game on ice. Without taking many warm-up swings or seeing many pitches, Day ripped a three-RBI double to left to put the game out of reach.

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"Keaton Day has been phenomenal making the most of his opportunities when he is called upon to pinch hit," Lucas coach Courtney Church said. "He had a big hit to empty the bases and give us a jolt of life."

It was just Day's second hit of the season, but it was a big one as he now has six RBIs for the year and none were bigger than the three he added for the Cubs.

"I have been given some opportunities to make a difference this year and I really appreciate that so I am always going up wanting to do something positive for my team," Day said.

"I hadn't seen a pitch, but if it is down the pipe, I am going to swing. Coach Church gave me the green light. Thankfully, the first two were balls so I could see a couple of pitches and then I got my opportunity and took advantage."

The Cubs (5-6) scored one in the first, one in the third and six in the fifth to overcome a slow start after seeing Mansfield Christian's Jack Kelley keep Lucas off balanced with a mixture of speeds. Once the Cubs got their timing the third time through the order, it led to a big inning.

"Our bats haven't been an issue this year and we have been hitting the ball pretty well," Church said. "They threw some softer throwing guys at us and we were just out on our front foot. It takes some patience to wait back."

The win gave the Cubs five in their last six games after an 0-5 start to the season as they seem to have turned a corner. Judah Chamberlin led the way with three hits while Jack DiBartolomeo had two hits and Ray Caudill had a hit and two RBIs. Cooper Day drew a bases-loaded walk for an RBI.

DiBartolomeo was sensational on the mound, allowing just three hits in five shutout innings with 11 strikeouts and three walks. Grayson Jackson worked the final two innings allowing just two hits with six strikeouts to preserve the shutout.

"Our first five games a couple of years ago, we started off 0-5 with a brutal schedule and this year's was kind of similar," Church said. "We had to pick up a lot of teams with turf fields at the beginning and when you do that, those are some big schools with great programs. We tested ourselves, went 0-5 and have turned the table in these last couple of weeks by focusing on the little things. We are starting to pick up some things and growing. We have seen some great pitching and I have been impressed with the boys and the way they put the ball in play."

The Flames (2-7) saw Brock Rentzel record two hits while Landan McRae, Joshua Hillman and Landan Bishop add one hit apiece. Kelley gave the Flames four solid innings and ended up allowing eight runs, seven earned, on five hits with three strikeouts and seven walks.

"We were right there," Mansfield Christian coach Cory Branham said. "I am really happy for our starting pitcher today, Jack Kelley, who had never picked up a baseball until his freshman year and came out here and gives me four solid innings against a three-time defending league champion. I think that is proof that what we are doing is working. It may be a little slower than what we want it to be, but we did enough to give ourselves more at-bats and more innings to play because those are going to help us get better. The progress is there."

A team that has 46 steals in 11 games, the Cubs love running the bases aggressively and the Flames knew that. They picked off three runners as the Cubs swiped seven bags. But the execution was something Branham was proud of as the Flames made some great baseball plays, something that hasn't been seen in a while.

"We worked on our pickoff game today," Branham said. "We knew how aggressive Lucas is on the base paths and I know we had three between pick offs at first base and a throw to third. If we can get better at that stuff, the game within the game kind of situations, it will do wonders for us. We need to understand that letting a guy steal second isn't just a stolen base, but a runner in scoring position so it is a big deal. Every pitch is precious and every error is crucial and they are understanding that and it is starting to click."

The two teams will face off on Tuesday in the series finale.

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Big fifth inning hands Cubs fifth win in six games topping Mansfield Christian