NELSONVILLE — Just a day after allowing 15 runs in a home loss to conference rival Meigs, the Alexander baseball team hit the road for another conference bout with Nelsonville-York.
This time, it was Alexander who held the upper hand for the entirety of the game, holding the Buckeyes to just two runs as they cruised to a 7-2 victory on their rival’s field.
The Spartans (3-4) were able to put together the seven runs on eight hits and eight walks, consistently finding runners on base. Stanley Viny led the way with a 3-4 day at the plate, knocking in three RBIs and scoring a run of his own. Camron Oberholzer added a hit and a pair of RBIs, while Trent Schaad also contributed a hit and an RBI. Jared Truax, Josh Hayes and Noah Ray all finished with a hit as well.
Michael McKibben got the start on the mound, tossing four innings of three hit baseball while walking three batters and striking out six. Jackson Wandling threw an inning and two thirds in relief, allowing two hits while garnering two strikeouts. Schaad finished it out with an inning and a third, allowing just one hit.
“McKibben, he’s young, he’s learning a lot, but he’s slowly becoming one of our best pitchers,” said Alexander head coach Jordan Myles. “He’s got great poise on the mound, and he just gets up there and does his job.”
It was a less productive day at the plate for the Nelsonville-York Buckeyes, who were able to tally six hits but only turned in two runs. Landen Inman finished 2-4 at the plate while scoring a run, while Cam Sullivan and Noah Pierce each added a hit as well. The Buckeyes were also able to tally four walks as a team.
Inman also picked up the start on the mound, nearly pitching the full seven innings before hitting the maximum 125 pitch-count. He threw six and two thirds innings, allowing eight hits and five earned runs while walking eight batters and striking out two.
“I think their pitcher got up to his max [pitch count], so that’s always a good sign of quality at-bats there,” Myles noted following the game. “Just us being smart at the plate.”
The Buckeyes got on the board first, with an RBI single from Sullivan in the bottom of the first plating a runner and giving Nelsonville-York a quick 1-0 advantage.
Alexander quickly took a lead of their own the following inning, with Oberholzer drawing a bases loaded walk before Viny stung a two-run single up the middle to put the Spartans up 3-1.
Oberholzer would score another runner in the top of the fourth, with a line drive single to center pushing the Spartans advantage to four. The Buckeyes would then draw one run closer scoring on a passed ball in the bottom of the inning, making it 4-2.
Alexander would score three more in the top of the sixth, with Schaad scoring a runner on a groundout before Viny would add another one-run single up the middle. Viny would then score after a bunt from Mason Morris and a subsequent Buckeye throwing error.
With a 7-2 lead entering the bottom of the seventh, Morris made a diving play in center field before a Buckeye runner was thrown out trying to advance to third. The Spartans caught a Buckeye runner stealing for their final out, bouncing back with a big conference win.
“I’m hoping this gives us the confidence, the edge that we need,” said Myles postgame. “We’ve been having to be smart about who we pitch and when, and I think we’ve set ourselves up nicely for the rest of this week.”
They have three more conference games in the next three days, with home dates against River Valley and Wellston before heading to Vinton County on Friday.
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