Jake McNamara of the Xenia Scouts turns a double play against the Lima Locos on Sunday night.
Chris Howell | The Lima News
LIMA — Xenia starting pitcher Brenden Holland (Lourdes University) has had the Locos number this season.
The 5-11 lefty from Riga, Michigan has two wins as a starter, both coming at Simmons Field and until the Locos broke through in the sixth inning, Holland had thrown 10 straight shutout innings against them.
On Sunday night, Xenia (11-16) started the game with three runs in the bottom of the first inning off starter Ryan Yingst (Tiffin University), forcing the Locos (15-12) to play catchup all game in what was eventually a 13-4 loss to the Scouts.
Yingst didn’t make it out of the second inning, exiting with two runners on and the Locos already in a 3-0 hole.
“It was a tough spot,” Locos coach Chad Ehrnsberger said of the early deficit. “Ryan’s thrown the ball well for us all summer. In the last couple of outings, he’s struggled a little bit which is kind of tough to see because I know how hard he works, but sometimes it happens.
“We have to do a better job of coming back as a team because it’s just three runs in the first inning and that shouldn’t be enough to keep us down. We had some bad calls that cost us some runs which makes it tough to stay in the right mindset. It is what it is. We started off slow and outside forces kept us from having any fight for the rest of the game.”
The next six innings were filled by a pair of local arms freshly signed by the Locos, Kalida graduate Carson Klausing (Terra State College) and University of Northwestern Ohio product Blake O’Bryan.
Both players put together respectable showings in their debuts, combining to hold the Scouts to five hits through six frames.
“I thought Blake came in and did a good job for us until he got tired in his last inning,” said Ehrnsberger. “That’s something that happens when you haven’t pitched in a game in a while.
“Carson did the same thing. He threw two scoreless innings then gave up some runs in his last inning but those guys both did well. I wouldn’t hesitate to throw them in another game.”
Through four innings, Xenia led 9-0.
Lima’s first run this season against Holland came in the sixth inning when Sebastian Alexander (Coastal Carolina University) sent the second pitch of his at-bat over the fence in left-center field. Alexander went 1 for 4 in the loss.
After Klausing made quick work of the Scouts in the seventh, the Locos added three more runs on a two-run double by Justin Gorski (Miami University) and an RBI single from Blake Bowen (University of Akron). Gorski finished the game 2 for 4 with two runs batted in.
Alexander had a chance to cut into the lead even further, but he grounded out to second, stranding a pair of baserunners.
Xenia responded with two runs in each of the eighth and ninth innings to pull away for good.
Jake McNamara (Palm Beach Atlantic College) finished the night 1 for 5 with four runs batted in. Noah Ruiz (Biola University), Will Lawrence (Samford University) and Troy Lynch (University of Minnesota Duluth) also drove in two runs apiece.
After the league’s day off on Monday, the Locos open a three-game series on the road against South Ohio on Tuesday. The two teams meet at Simmons Field on Wednesday and Thursday to conclude the series.
Xenia Scouts 13, Lima Locos 4
Box score (r-h-e)
Xenia Scouts 3 0 1 5 0 0 0 2 2 13-10-1
Lima Locos 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 4-7-2
Xenia Scouts 13 (ab-r-h-rbi)
Zach Zarko 4-2-1-0, Jake McNamara 5-1-1-4, Noah Ruiz 5-2-2-2, Will Lawrence 4-2-2-2, Jacob Winzenread 2-0-1-1, Eli Steadman 2-0-0-0, Kaden Wu 2-0-0-1, Harrison Barnes 1-1-0-0, Cade McGuire 4-0-0-0, Judah Miller 3-3-2-0, Chase Eakes 1-1-0-0, Troy Lynch 1-1-1-2, Totals: 34-13-10-12.
Lima Locos 4 (ab-r-h-rbi)
Justin Gorski 4-0-2-2, Lou Fujiwara 5-0-0-0, Blake Bowen 3-0-1-0, Sebastian Alexander 4-1-1-1, Kaden Brown 3-0-1-0, Tyler Herron 4-0-1-0, Landon Tate 3-1-0-0, Caden Lockwood 2-1-0-0, Bo Shinkle 4-1-1-0, Totals: 32-4-7-3.
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so)
W — Brenden Holland (2-1) 6.0-5-4-4-4-3
L — Ryan Yingst (0-3) 2.0-4-4-4-1-3
Reach Chris Howell at 567-242-0468 or on Twitter/X at @Lima_Howell
