LIMA — Finally, the 30-day marathon is over.
And the Lima Locos closed it out with plenty of pitching to spare.
Three Locos pitchers held Xenia to three hits in a 3-1 victory over the Scouts Wednesday at Simmons Field.
Wednesday was the Locos’ 30th straight day playing a game. They played a team-record 30 games in 30 days. The Locos are off today, Friday and Saturday.
It’s a well-needed and well-earned break.
“You can see it (fatigue) in bat speed and running the bases,” Locos coach Chad Ehrnsberger said. “We have a lot of fast guys and guys who work hard and guys who play as hard as they can, but when they run the bases I can see they are a step slow or you can tell their bat speed is a little slow.’’
The Locos lead the North Division of the Great Lakes Collegiate League with a 21-9 record. Xenia leads the South Division with an 18-11 mark.
In the last two days, the Locos’ pitching looked fresh, as they defeated Xenia, 3-0, 3-1, and held the Scouts to a total of four hits.
On Wednesday, it was right-hander Brad Croy (Bowling Green State/Ottawa-Glandorf) who started and went 6 1/3 innings, giving up one run, earned, on three hits. He struck out three and walked two.
Croy (4-0) threw 81 pitches, 51 for strikes.
“He (Croy) was dominating, but he hit a wall (in the seventh),” Ehrnsberger said. “He pitched a great game, but that’s probably more pitches than he threw all year.”
Croy said, “I saw the way Bailey (Martin, who one-hit Xenia on Tuesday) attacked their hitters and he was effective with his fastball and I tried to do the same thing. I wanted to work around the zone and locate my pitches. My fastball was pretty effective.”
But with one out in the seventh, and the Locos leading 3-1, Croy gave up a double and a walk. He then went 2-0 on Ryan O’Hearn before left-hander Austin Cox came on in relief.
Cox walked O’Hearn to load the bases with one out. Cox then struck out pinch-hitter Colt Wolfe and got Jacob Chrysler to fly out to center to get out of the huge seventh-inning jam.
Cox was able to dominate with his fastball, as he aggressively pounded the strike zone. He threw 1 2/3 hitless innings of relief.
Locos closer Nick Spear turned in a 1-2-3 ninth, with one strikeout, for his league-leading ninth save.
Cox returned a week ago from suffering a broken right (non-throwing) hand.
“I did most of the stuff we were doing with my running and throwing and I got someone else to catch me,” Cox said. “Then, once I was able to fit a glove on it the doctor said, ‘It’s up to you. Go back if you think you can.’ It was nice to get back into it and really get going again.”
Xenia took a 1-0 lead in the fourth. The Locos scored two in the fifth.
Jeremy Johnson’s RBI single to center gave the Locos a 2-1 lead in the fifth.
Ross Adolph’s RBI single to center in the sixth gave the Locos a 3-1 lead.
Adolph went 2 for 3 with a double, while Jared Nixon was 3 for 4 with a double.
“We’re 21-9 and in first place in our division, and overall, so obviously we’re doing something right,” Ehrnsberger said. “There’s still room to improve and the guys know that. … Hopefully after this three-day break they’ll come back with a renewed sense of wanting to win and get better and finish strong.”
Locos notes: First baseman Kevin Woodall, a member of the College World Series championship team at Coastal Carolina, joined the team in the dugout during the game after a long drive to Lima from South Carolina. He’ll be activated for Sunday’s game.
The Locos lead the league in pitching (3.00 ERA) and are third in the league in hitting (.280). Hamilton leads the league in hitting with a .306 average.
Up next: The Locos take a three-day break before playing at Grand Lake at 7 p.m. Sunday. The Locos are back home at 7 p.m. Monday against Grand Lake.
