NEW WASHINGTON — Buckeye Central’s Austin Estridge may not look imposing as he takes the mound.
Physical stature notwithstanding, Estridge was dominant against Bucyrus Wednesday.
The junior righthander struck out 13, walked none, and limited the Redmen to four hits as the Bucks won their Northern 10 Athletic Conference game, 7-1.
“Austin was lights out,” Buckeye Central coach Chad Jensen said. “He pitched a great game, great command. It’s cold. You could make excuses, but he didn’t. He came out here ready to go. He was locked in from the beginning.”
Bucyrus ( 0-2, 0-2 N10) touched Estridge for its only run in the first inning. Malachi Bayless led off with a single and stole second. With two outs, Cody Pennington lined a single to right to plate Bayless.
“Malachi is a perfect leadoff hitter,” Bucyrus coach Sean Maudsley said. “He knows how to get on base. Over the years — three years in a row or four — he’s been the leadoff guy. He now knows how to work the pitch count, get deep in counts, get a walk, get a hit. He’s got a real good two-strike approach.”
“Give credit to them,” Jensen said of the Redmen. “Malachi opens the game with a single off a curve ball. Then Pennington had a nice swing on an outside fastball, and he hit it where we weren’t.”
But from there it was all Bucks. BC tied it in the bottom of the first when Heath Jensen was safe on an error to lead off the inning, stole second, and scored on a one-out single by Jacob Hiler.
The hosts scored all the runs Estridge would need with a 3-spot in the third. Hiler led off with a single and stole second. Jeremiah Fishpaw was safe on an error, sending Hiler to third.
Hiler scored on a wild pitch, before Lance Cole walked. Estridge then doubled in Fishpaw and Cole for a 4-1 lead.
Estridge was so dominant that he retired 15 batters in a row from the last out of the first inning until two outs in the sixth. He set down the side on strikes in both the fourth and fifth innings.
“He’s always around the zone,” Maudsley said of Estridge. “He’s put a little velocity on him this year. We have to be able to put the ball in play. With 13 strikeouts, we’re not putting the ball in play and that’s the key to the game.”
On the other side, Bucyrus pitching issued 11 walks to go with eight Buckeye Central hits. Add in four errors and the bases were littered with Bucks runners. They had the bases loaded in every inning but the second.
“We had a lot of baserunners,” Jensen said. “We left some baserunners on (13), but I thought we were patient at the plate, we followed the scouting report well, we put the ball in play.”
Buckeye Central (3-0, 2-0) knocked Bayless from the mound with two runs in the fourth. Bayless walked the first two before he was relieved by Kam Lewis, who allowed the two walks to score but minimized the damage.
“We are improving,” Maudsley said. “The pitchers pitched well for the most part. There was a little trouble with the walks, but they worked their way through the innings. A couple of crucial errors cost us.”
“We got Malachi to throw quite a few pitches early,” Jensen said. “Overall, I thought he pitched well. He’s a bulldog too. He pitched as well as I’ve ever seen him.”
The Bucks got their only run off Lewis in the sixth inning. Estridge led off with a single. Bren Jones and Jayden Ash followed with walks. Estridge scored on a one-out sacrifice fly by Heath Jensen.
Jacob Hiler led the BC offense with three singles, two runs batted in, and scored once. Estridge had two hits with the only extra base hit of the game, a double. Isaac Hiler, Fishpaw, and Cole singled.
Pennington had two singles for Bucyrus, while Bayless and Lewis had on safety each.
“We had a couple of routine plays that we didn’t make (Tuesday in a 6-0 loss to Buckeye Central) and we had a couple of routine plays we didn’t make today,” Maudsley said. “What I really liked today was the team’s morale. They really stayed up the whole game. They hustled everywhere today. We had a lot of good backups. We made strides from (Tuesday).”
“It was one of those league wins that you need,” Jensen said. “The league is tough. I’m really proud of our kids. We put the ball in play and worked the counts.”
Most importantly, the Bucks begin the year 3-0, 2-0 in the N10.
“It’s a great way to start,” Jensen said. “This league is a meat grinder. To get off to a great start, we’re happy about that.”
Box score
Bucyrus 100 000 0 1 4 4
Buckeye Central 103 201 X 7 8 1
WP: Austin Estridge (13 SO, 0 W)
LP: Malachi Bayless (4 SO, 5 W)
HR: None.
Triples: None.
Doubles: (BC) Austin Estridge.
Multiple hits: (B) Cody Pennington; (BC) Jacob Hiler 3.
Records: Buckeye Central 3-0, 2-0 N10; Bucyrus 0-2, 0-2 N10.
Next: Bucyrus at Seneca East, Tuesday; Buckeye Central at South Central, Saturday.