By Dan Messerschmidt
CCN Sports Director

BUCYRUS — With the Northern 10 Athletic Conference title decided, Saturday’s makeup game between Wynford and Bucyrus seemed meaningless other than to recognize three Redmen seniors playing their final game.

But the rivalry took over and the teams played almost as if it was the seventh game of the World Series.

Wynford (10-13, 7-9 N10) used a five-run fourth inning to grab a 7-1 lead, then withstood a Bucyrus rally to hold on for a 7-5 victory.

“This is a big rivalry,” Wynford coach Jordan Oliver said. “Credit Bucyrus. Their kids continued to fight even when they were down 7-1.”

The Redmen gave themselves a chance when they put a four-spot on the board in the sixth. Noah Parker reached on an infield single with one out. Gram Dick walked, and Terry Gilliam was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Nick Middleton dropped a single down the left-field line to bring home two, Jaylen Zehner brought home one with a groundout and Ryan Evans singled in the fourth run of the inning.

“We had a lot of big innings this year, believe it or not,” Bucyrus coach Sean Maudsley said. “I think we’ve had just as many big innings as we’ve had small innings, as far as putting runs across the plate. It seems like, when we score, we score in bunches.”

Wynford tallied its first run in the second without a hit. Nate Imbody was hit by a pitch, moved around on a sacrifice, a walk and eventually came home on a wild pitch.

The Royals’ second run came in the third. Caleb Stone singled moved to second on a walk and scored on a wild pitch.

“The good thing I saw today was some better approaches at the plate,” Oliver said. “The bottom part of the order has struggled, at times, this year. I was pleased with the way we put the ball in play with the bottom of the order.”

Bucyrus (7-15, 4-12) got on the board in the third. Middleton walked, went to second on a sacrifice, to third on an Evans single and scored on a ground out by Ben Seibert.

What proved to be the knockout punch came in the Royals’ five-run fourth. Cody Taylor was hit by a pitch with one out. Jordan Imbody drove both home with a single, Stone singled and Josh Crall drove in Imbody with a ground out.

Stone scored on a throwing error, Noah Smith walked and scored on Nate Imbody’s single.

“What hurt us today was walks by our pitchers and hit batsmen that came in to score,” Maudsley said. “Three of their seven runs came across by walks or a hit batter. And wild pitches got through, two of them with two outs.”

Wyatt Smith went the first six innings on the mound for Wynford, recording eight strikeouts to go with five walks. He gave up five runs on six hits. Stone pitched the seventh and held off the Redmen despite walking the bases loaded with one out.

Stone had three hits to lead the Royals offense, Wyatt Smith had a single and a double, while Jordan and Nate Imbody each singled.

“We’ve got a tournament game next week,” Oliver said. “We were hoping to build a little bit of momentum. We took a little step back at the end, but I was just happy we were able to pull it out.”

Evans singled twice to pace the Bucyrus offense. Zehner, Parker, Middleton and Dick all singled. Evans, Dick and Gilliam played their last game in a Redmen uniform and all added something, as Gilliam was it by a pitch and scored a run.

Seibert started on the mound, striking out seven, walking four and giving up seven runs, six earned. Evans finished by tossing three scoreless innings, with two strikeouts, a walk and a hit.

“Every senior contributed,” Maudsley said. “Ryan pitched his best game since he’s been here and got two hits, one clutch hit. Gram got a hit. And Terry is the spiritual leader of this team. He took one for the team and, believe it or not, that’s what lifted us for that big inning.”

Wynford qualified for the Division III district tournament at Shelby, where they will play No. 1 Galion at 2 p.m. on Thursday.

“We’ve got one more to play and it could be over for us if we don’t stay focused and have a great mental approach,” Oliver said. “Galion is the No. 1 seed in the district for a reason. They have great, experienced coaches and a lot of experience on their team. We’re going to have to play our best game.”

While lauding the contributions of his seniors, Maudsley thought they had helped prepare for the future as well.

“These kids are receptive,” Maudsley said. “They hear us, and they try to implement things we teach them. They don’t always do it, but they at least try it. That’s what I think will help us turn this thing around.”

208-530-3035

Wynford   011 500 0      7     7     1

Bucyrus    001 004 0      5     6     3

WP: Wyatt Smith (8 SO, 5 W)

LP: Ben Seibert (7 SO, 4 W)

HR: None.

Triples: None.

Doubles: (W) Wyatt Smith.

Multiple hits: (W) Caleb Stone 3, Wyatt Smith.

Records: Wynford 10-13 (7-9 N10); Bucyrus 7-15 (4-12 N10).

Next: Wynford vs. Galion, Division III district semifinal, at Shelby, Thursday; Bucyrus season over.