BUCYRUS — The outcomes of the two meetings between Bucyrus and Colonel Crawford on the baseball diamond were on the opposite ends of the spectrum. Perhaps fittingly, the teams split the pair.

Colonel Crawford endured 10 innings and three Bucyrus comebacks to defeat the Redmen, 5-3, in a Northern 10 contest at Veterans’ Memorial Field.

The win avenged a 15-14 donnybrook at North Robinson last Thursday, which Bucyrus held on to win.

“It was a great game. I think three times we got the lead and they came back to tie it,” Colonel Crawford coach Dan Gorbett said. “They had guys on base and made the plays to keep it going.”

The story of the game was pitching. Eagles’ starter Drayton Burkhart went 10 innings and was the ultimate winner, striking out 12, walking three and surrendering just three runs — two of which were earned.

His counterpart, Trevor Ley, nearly matched him, going nine innings with nine strikeouts, four walks and giving up three runs, two earned.

“I thought Trevor pitched really well,” Bucyrus coach Sean Maudsley said. “I feel sorry for our pitchers because they should have a few more wins under their belts for how good they pitch.”

The knockout punch came on a two-out double by Brock Ritzhaupt that brought home Trevin Fairchild who had stared the rally with a single. Ritzhaupt the scored an insurance run on Dylan Cooke’s single.

“The bottom of the order is what did the damage for us,” Gorbett said. “The top of the order really didn’t have good games. But that’s what good teams do. You can’t be on every game, so you’ve got to be picked up by other people.”

On this night it was a battle of attrition. Colonel Crawford (11-5, 8-4 N10) broke the ice with a run in the third inning. Kade Hamilton singled with one out, then back-to-back two-out singles by Gavin Feichtner and Cooke.

Bucyrus (6-11, 2-7) tied it in the sixth. Kael Scott led off with a single and stole second. Scott moved to third on a ground ball and scored on a ground ball by Ben Seibert who was also safe on an error.

That set the tone for the day. The Eagles regained the lead in the sixth on a walk, a sacrifice a hit batter and an error. The Redmen answered in the seventh with a two-base error, a sacrifice and a ground out to send it to extra innings.

“That’s the one positive. We got guys on late and we moved them over,” Maudsley said. “We executed pretty well. I just don’t like the way we wait around (at the plate). Take nothing away from Crawford, because they did a good job. They got timely hits when they needed them.”

There was more drama in the eighth. Fairchild walked with one out and stole second. Cooke drove him home with a single to give Colonel Crawford a 3-2 lead.

The Redmen stayed alive in the bottom of the frame. Kaden Middleton led off with a single, stole second and went to third on a bunt single by Nic Middleton.

Dylan Goff attempted a sacrifice that plated pinch runner Lincoln Mollenkopf with the run but he which Goff also beat out for a hit, though Nic Middleton was thrown out after rounding third too far.

Burkhart retired the final two batters to avoid further damage.

“Drayton pitched another outstanding game,” Gorbett said. “I think all of there runs scored without a ball leaving the infield, so that’s a heck of a job pitching.”

Seibert pitched the ninth and tenth innings in relief of Ley and was the hard-luck loser. He struck out two and walked none and the winning runs scored with two outs.

Hamilton and Cooke each had two hits to lead the Eagles offense. Cooke drove in two and Hamilton scored once. Ritzhaupt doubled and scored, while Feichtner, Burkhart and Fairchild singled, and Fairchild scored once.

Scott had two hits and scored once for Bucyrus. Nic Middleton, Kaden Middleton and Goff singled. Goff, Seibert and Collin Remmel batted in runs.

“Drayton does a real nice job of picking out his spots and makes us chase in the dirt or chase outside,” Maudsley said. “We had a lot of two-strike counts today and that was in his favor.”

“These were two great games,” Gorbett said. “Bucyrus has come a long way. You look their (team) batting average in the league stats and they hit nothing like that, so it sounds like they’ve probably turned the corner.”

“We’re not putting the ball in play (consistently) right now,” Maudsley said. “The other difference in the game was (Crawford’s) timely hits. I think four of their runs were with two outs. With runners in scoring position, it doesn’t seem like we’re getting that timely hit.”

Box score

Colonel Crawford     001 001 010 2   5   8   3

Bucyrus                        000 100 110 0   3   5   4

WP: Drayton Burkhart (12 SO, 3 W)

LP: Ben Seibert (2 SO, 0 W)

HR: None.

Triples: None.

Doubles: (CC) Brock Ritzhaupt.

Multiple hits: (CC) Dylan Cooke, Kade Hamilton; (B) Kael Scott.

Records: Colonel Crawford 11-5 (8-4 N10); Bucyrus 6-11 (2-7 N10).

Next: Ridgedale at Colonel Crawford, Wednesday; Bucyrus at Upper Sandusky, Wednesday.