BUCYRUS (Crawford County Now) — Building a baseball program from the ground up is a process not necessarily measured by wins.

Bucyrus coach Thad Hensel is looking to get off the bottom floor.

Hensel got four solid innings from freshman pitcher Micah Burke and the Redmen played one of their better defensive games of the season.

One shaky inning cost Bucyrus in a 13-3 non-league loss to Monroeville at Veterans Memorial Field.

“We played good, solid baseball today, something we haven’t done a whole lot of,” Hensel said. “We’ve got a bunch of young guys. We have all juniors, all sophomores, all freshmen. We don’t have any seniors here.

“We know we’re going to take our licks this year. As long as we’re improving every single game, I can’t complain.”

Burke got through four innings on the hill giving up just two runs on four hits. He was locked in a pitching duel with fellow frosh Jake Fries.

“It was (Jake’s) first time pitching this year,” Monroeville coach Don Clark said. “We’re pretty deep pitching-wise. It was a chance to get him in. We got him in, and he did his job.”

Fries one-upped Burke’s solid start. He went five innings, giving up one run on four hits while striking out eight and walking none.

The Eagles hit the Redmen in the fifth with something all too familiar — the big inning. Monroeville (6-3) banged out four hits, got two walks and a hit batter and a Bucyrus (0-7) error.

The result was a six-run inning and an 8-1 Eagles lead.

“We didn’t score many (early),” Clark said. “Uncharacteristic swings for us. We got (the bats) going when it mattered.”

“The fifth inning got away. We started walking some guys, a few mistakes here and there,” Hensel said. “We compound things a lot. We have a bad habit of, if we make a mistake, we follow it up with a mistake. It’s a young guy thing. They get anxious, they bobble the ball, and they want to make a quick, snap throw. They’re still learning.”

The Redmen did not pack it in. They came back to plate two runs in the sixth off Eagles reliever Alex Dowell.

Wyatt Makeever led off the frame with a single but was caught stealing. Burke then singled and Paten Deskins was safe on a throwing error by Dowell.

James Frazier was safe on an error by the second baseman, scoring Burke, and Quin Ross was safe on a fielder’s choice, driving home Deskins, cutting the Bucyrus deficit to 8-3.

Monroeville put the game out of reach in the seventh, parlaying three walks, a hit batter, and two Redmen errors into five runs on just one hit.

“We got the lead, and we got the win,” Clark said. “Winning in high school baseball is hard.”

Makeever had two hits for Bucyrus. Burke, Deskins, Lincoln Blizzard, and Aiden Jones all added base knocks.

Landin Hershiser had the lone extra base hit — a double — for the Eagles. Jackson Hedrick had three singles, Hudson Bauer had two hits, while Ethan Smiley, Reid Wasserman, Tristan Wise, and Lincoln Schafer-Paull all hit safely.

“Our outfield looked solid. Our centerfielder (Deskins) was making good plays,” Hensel said. “He ran into the gap and caught one over his head. The infield played pretty decent. They looked like a baseball team today.”

The Monroeville coach commiserated with Hensel on trying to get that elusive first win.

“We were there. Last year, we won six, the year before we won three. The previous three years, we didn’t win a game,” Clark said. “So, we’ve been there. It’s not a good spot to be in and you don’t want to be someone’s first. But they played well. They’re a well-coached team.”

“We’ll have everybody back next year,” Hensel said. “We’re just building here, trying to get these guys to learn some baseball. I’ve got guys on the team that have never played before. I’m proud of them. We keep fighting and maybe some balls will start bouncing our way.”

Monroeville travels to Woodmore on Saturday. Bucyrus returns to the diamond hosting Colonel Crawford on Tuesday.

Box score

Monroeville   010 160 5     13      8      2

Bucyrus         001 002 0        3      6      6

WP: Jake Fries (8 SO, 0 W)

LP: Micah Burke (2 SO, 4 W)

HR: None

Triples: None.

Doubles: (M) Jackson Hedrick.

Multiple hits: (B) Wyatt Makeever.

Records: Monroeville 6-3; Bucyrus 0-7.

Next: Monroeville at Woodmore, Saturday; Colonel Crawford at Bucyrus, Tuesday.