Justin Gorski of the Lima Locos tags out Reginald Sharpe of the Michigan Monarchs as he attempts to steal second base during Thursday’s game at Simmons Field.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
LIMA – On Thursday night the Locos bats continued to stay hot at Simmons Field.
After registering 10 hits in a season-opening loss to Michigan on Tuesday, the Locos (1-2) registered 10 more hits and picked up their first win of the season, beating the Monarchs (2-1) 12-3.
Michigan put one run on the board in the first, but once the Locos erased that deficit, they never trailed again.
“Our hitters came out tonight with a good approach and we had success with it,” said Locos coach Chad Ehrnsberger. “We struggled yesterday and the guys took what we talked about to heart, so that’s a good sign.”
Jaxin Settlemires, an outfielder from the University of Memphis, has stood out so far in the lineup as the only Loco to record a hit in all three games. Settlemires scored twice in the win while collecting two more singles. His RBI single in the sixth inning gave the Locos a 12-2 advantage.
“I’m feeling good in the box right now,” Settemires said. “I’m trying to keep everything slow, keep the heartbeat down and capitalize when the pitcher makes a mistake.”
Backing up the hot bats was a strong pitching performance from Carter Parks (St Johns River) and Cody Soliday (Mercer) who combined for eight innings of work. Soliday entered with two outs in the fourth and closed the door on the Monarchs.
“That’s the most pitches (Carter) Parks has thrown all spring (3 2/3 innings, 72 pitches). To see him work that late in the game was good to see and he threw a lot of strikes,” said Ehrnsberger. “(Cody) Soliday walked his first batter on four pitches, but after that, he was in total control and that’s what I expected from both guys.”
Through 4 1/3 innings of work, Soliday no-hit Michigan and struck out four batters. Outfielder Liam Richards (Yavapai) pitched the ninth inning for the Locos.
Michigan starter Cole Gebbon (Western Michigan) was charged with the loss after lasting just 2 1/3 innings and allowing six earned runs on six hits.
Tanner Mally (Western Michigan) went 2 for 4 and scored a pair of runs for the Monarchs.
The Locos will now hit the road for five games, beginning tomorrow night at Muskegon.
Prior to the game, the Locos welcomed back longtime head coach Rob Livchak who was inducted into the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League Hall of Fame. Livchak spent 16 years leading the Locos, winning two league championships with a record of 339-290.
During the pregame ceremonies, Livchak threw out the ceremonial first pitch in front of a very welcoming Simmons Field crowd. Ron Black, Dave Koverman, Nick Morris, and Rich Korkate, four men who coached with Livchak, joined him for the first pitch.
“I love this place. It was a special evening, and I had some fun,” said Livchak. “The saying goes here that once you are a Loco, you are always a Loco, and that could not be truer. I never even thought about being in the Hall of Fame growing up. I did this for the kids, or selfishly for myself at times but I just wanted to be around great kids and great baseball, and we accomplished that here.”
Box score (r-h-e)
Michigan Monarchs 100100100 3-9-1
Lima Locos 32104200x 12-10-1
Michigan Monarchs 3 (ab-r-h-rbi)
Tanner Mally 4-2-2-0, Reginald Sharpe 2-0-1-1, Kooper Ethridge 2-0-1-0, Alonzo Paul 5-0-2-1, Scoop Harden 2-0-1-0, Liam Pollock 3-0-0-0, Kimo Fukofuka 2-0-0-0, Jacob Gumieny 4-0-0-0, Ryan Drumm 4-1-1-0, Alex Cheeseman 3-0-1-0, Cooper Middleton 2-0-0-0, Jad Oestrike 2-0-0-0, Totals: 35-3-9-2.
Lima Locos 12 (ab-r-h-rbi)
Justin Gorski 2-4-1-1, Jaxin Settlemires 4-2-2-1, Andrew Stechschulte 1-0-0-0, Blake Bowen 5-1-2-3, Tagger Tyson 2-0-0-0, Brice Estep 0-0-0-0, Kaden Brown 3-0-1-3, Caden Lockwood 5-0-0-0, Landon Tate 3-2-1-0, Liam Richards 4-2-2-0, Bo Shinkle 4-1-1-0, Totals: 33-12-10-8
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so)
W — Cody Soliday 4.1-0-1-0-2-4
L — Cole Gebbon 2.1-6-6-6-4-1
Nate Stidham wrote this article for LimaScores.com
