OAK HARBOR — The Oak Harbor Rockets may not have a winning record on the season, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous.
The Rockets received the No. 4 seed at the tournament draw and the reason was evident in their sectional semifinal with Bucyrus on Wednesday.
Oak Harbor (12-15) got 12 strikeouts from pitcher Gunner Gregg and took advantage of seven Redmen errors to come away with a 10-3 victory in the Division III sectional opener at Oak Harbor.
“We fielded a little poorly today, a little worse than I wanted to do,” Bucyrus coach Sean Maudsley said. “But we knew coming in that they were going to put the ball in play. They’re a contact team, they make contact with the baseball. They don’t strike out very much, they don’t look at very many pitches. They’re aggressive and we just didn’t field the ball today.”
The Rockets only touched Bucyrus (6-21) starter Kael Scott for five hits, but combined with five walks and the Redmen errors, the hits were timely enough to drive in runs. Oak Harbor also had two sacrifice fly balls.
“We were able to do what we needed to do to score some runs and, of course, capitalize on their errors,” Oak Harbor coach Nick Lance said. “Most importantly, Gunner Gregg, our pitcher, went out and threw strikes. I don’t know the strikeout totals, but he got his share. He did a great job on the mound.”
The Rockets scratched out a run in the first inning without a hit (or an error) on a leadoff walk, a stolen base and two fly balls. They added two in the second on a hit batter, a triple by Ashton Schroeder and a single from Mason Wagner, for a 3-0 lead.
Bucyrus got on the board in the third on a two-out single by Scott, a stolen base, a wild pitch and a single by Malachi Bayless.
But Gregg struck out six straight Redmen batters in the fourth and fifth innings to stymie the Bucyrus offense. The Rockets added a run in the third and three in the fourth to take a 7-1 lead and Bucyrus could not recover.
“All three aspects of our game tonight — we weren’t sharp, but we weren’t terrible in all of them,” Maudsley said. “Batting, hitting, pitching, we just weren’t real sharp at them. We were a little bit off.”
Oak Harbor’s five hits came from five different players. Schroeder had the triple, while Gregg, Collin Fauver, Justin Meloche, and Wagner had singles. Fauver drove in three runs and Grant Belcher two.
Gregg had just one walk to go with his 12 Ks, scattering seven hits.
Scott led the Redmen offense with three hits and scored two runs. Bayless had two singles and Riley Parker and Kam Lewis had one each. Bayless, Tanner Alsept and Weston Delaney drove in the Bucyrus runs.
Lance was pleased with his defense that committed only one error.
“We had some issues earlier in the season,” Lance said. “We made some moves and cleaned some things up and we’ve been pretty tight here the last few weeks of the season. I think that speaks volumes to some of the kids.”
Four seniors played their last game in a Bucyrus uniform — Scott, Alsept, Ki Powell, and Nick Middleton.
“Kael, a four-year starter, his freshman year started Game 1 as the catcher,” Maudsley said. “Nicky, a three-year started, actually started the last few games of his freshman year. Just a great lead-off hitter.
“Ki didn’t play last year,” Maudsley continued. “Thank God he decided to come out this year — invaluable to our team, very, very valuable to our team. And Tanner, we didn’t know if he was going to play this year. Thank goodness he did. He’s a great defensive player, fast as heck. We’ll miss all of them.”
Oak Harbor has the specter of facing the No. 1 seed in Colonel Crawford on Thursday in North Robinson. But the coach was ready for the challenge.
“At the end of the day, if you want to be down in Columbus holding the championship trophy, you’ve got to go through some good teams,” Lance said. “Let’s make it happen.”
Despite losing his four seniors, Maudsley is optimistic about the future with his young players.
“They’re very coachable kids,” Maudsley said. “They learn and they listen to seniors. The seniors were great coaches. I’ve got to give some credit to the young kids too because they listened so well. They didn’t disrespect the seniors. They listen to everything they say, and they try to take that out onto the field.”
Box score
Bucyrus 001 002 0 3 7 7
Oak Harbor 121 303 X 10 5 1
WP: Gunner Gregg (12 SO, 1 W)
LP: Kael Scott (5 SO, 5 W)
HR: None.
Triples: (OH) Ashton Schroeder.
Doubles: None.
Multiple hits: (B) Kael Scott 3.
Records: Bucyrus 6-21; Oak Harbor 12-15.
Next: Oak Harbor at Colonel Crawford, Division III sectional final, Thursday.