By Dan Messerschmidt

CCN Sports Director

BUCYRUS — An old nemesis came calling on Bucyrus and the result was the same as it has been in the past.

The Redmen committed eight errors that turned into four unearned runs, allowing Mohawk to secure a 6-3 victory in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference baseball game at Veterans’ Field.

“When you strike out 10 times and have eight errors, there’s a slim chance — maybe one out of a 100 — that you’re going to win a baseball game,” Bucyrus coach Sean Maudsley said. “We had some good mindsets coming in, but I think we took a step backwards, in our minds anyway.”

On the other side of the diamond, Mohawk coach Eric Hoover got some solid pitching and timely hitting which helped stop his team’s recent tailspin.

“We needed that,” Hoover said of the win. “We’d lost four in a row, so we’ve been struggling a little bit. We were making a lot of different mental mistakes and not making good contact at the plate. We’re doing a pretty good job of cleaning that up.”

A pair of three-run innings proved to be the Redmen’s undoing.

Bucyrus (3-4, 1-3 N10) took the lead in the bottom of the first. Jaylen Zehner reached on an error. Lucas Kozinski forced him at second, but Noah Parker walked and Trevor Ley drove home Kozinski with a single.

The Warriors took the lead for good with their first 3-spot in the fourth. Freshman Trey Combs led off with a single and Kedryk Leeth followed with a double. Rico Lopez drew a walk to load the bases with no outs.

Cole Widmer was safe on an error before Marshall Stull singled to plate two more.

“We fielded really good at St. Pete’s (on Thursday), but today we didn’t,” Maudsley said. “They hit the ball hard and that caused us to have a couple of flinches or whatever out in the field.”

Mohawk (5-6, 3-5) put the game away with three more in the fifth. Parker Brown got hit by a pitch leading off. Jesse Leeth was safe on an error and Combs walked to load the bases, knocking in Brown.

Two consecutive errors scored the second run and a two-out, bases loaded walk to Tyler Hayman forced home the third run, all unearned.

That’s all Combs needed. He did allow two unearned runs in the bottom of the fifth when Gram Dick and Seibert reached on errors for Bucyrus. Kael Scott doubled home Dick and Zehner’s sacrifice fly brought in Seibert.

“We weren’t perfect in the field, we made a couple of errors,” Hoover said. “But (Combs) worked out of some situations.”

Combs stranded 10 Bucyrus runners in his first varsity start before he was finally lifted with one out in the seventh due to pitch count. The right-hander struck out eight and walked four and limited the Redmen to four hits.

“He’s a very good pitcher,” Maudsley said. “He throws strikes, mixes his pitches very well, puts the ball in play and lets his defense handle it for him.”

Mohawk had five hits but Kedryk Leeth’s double was the only one for extra bases. Stull drove in two runs.

Seibert was charged with all six runs for Bucyrus, though only two were earned. He fanned three and walked two while giving up four hits. Parker, Scott and Ryan Evans all pitched in relief.

Seibert and Scott each doubled for the Redmen. Ley and Dylan Goff singled to account for the other two Bucyrus hits.

“We’re young, we had four freshmen on the field today,” Hoover said. “There’s going to be a little bit of growing pains. But as long as we keep good attitudes, keep working hard and improving, hopefully we’ll be good by the end of the season.”

“I thought our pitchers pitched very well,” Maudsley said. “Two earned runs are not too bad at all. We didn’t walk a lot (of batters).

“Ben got tired because he hadn’t pitched in a while,” he added. “Our relievers came in and threw strikes, exactly what they’re supposed to do. The game plan worked to perfection, actually. We’ve just got to make plays behind them.”

Twitter: @TF_Schmidt

208-530-3035

Mohawk    000 331 0    6   5   5

Bucyrus     010 200 0     3   4   8

WP: Trey Combs (8 SO, 4 W)

LP: Ben Seibert (3 SO, 2 W)

HR: None

Triples: None

Doubles: (M) Kedryk Leeth; (B) Ben Seibert, Kael Scott.

Multiple hits: None.

Records: Mohawk 5-6 (3-5 N10); Bucyrus 3-4 (1-3 N10).

Next: Margaretta at Mohawk, Saturday; Cardington at Bucyrus, Saturday.