Story by Cort Reynolds
Photos by Sue Mattson
ADA - The visiting Ada baseball team swept backyard arch-rival Upper Scioto Valley in a wild, long doubleheader Saturday at the park.
The Bulldogs won the opener 5-2, and took a seesaw nightcap battle 20-14.
Ada improved to 8-5 with the two wins over USV, which fell to 3-9.
The Bulldogs raced to a 2-0 lead in the first inning of game one. USV cut the deficit in half with a run in the top of the third.
Ada regained a 3-1 lead with a run in the home third.
Bulldog junior Landon Blankenship scored a run in the bottom of the fifth frame on a Brandon Hull single to extend the lead to 4-2.
In the Ada sixth, Ethan Hall doubled and stole third. The senior then scored on a clutch two-out hit by Daniel Mattson to provide a big insurance run for a 5-2 lead.
The Rams threatened in the seventh. But the feisty Blankenship struck out the final Ram batter looking on a 3-2 pitch with a runner on third in the seventh to preserve the win.
Blankenship gave up only four hits and one earned run in a gutty complete-game effort. He struck out 10 Rams and walked three.
Wayne Lowery doubled and scattered seven hits over six innings of pitching for USV. He struck out eight Bulldogs and walked three, giving up three earned runs.
Ada's Phillip Coulson hit a triple, singled, stole a base and scored two runs. Hall doubled, singled, swiped two bases and scored two runs. Zac Swaney singled, scored a run and stole two bases.
Hull singled in a run and stole a base.
Quinn Sanders hit a double and a single for USV. Ram Dylan Thompson knocked out a double, scored a run and stole three bases.
Ada out-hit USV 7-4 and left four runners on base while USV stranded five. The Rams made one error and Ada committed no miscues.
G1 123 456 7 R H E
USV 001 100 0 2 4 1
Ada 201 011 x 5 7 0
WP-Blankenship (2-1) LP-Lowery
2B-Hall (A), D. Thompson (U), Lowery (U), Sanders (U)
3B-Coulson (A)
In the nightcap USV jumped out to an early 4-1 lead, but Ada came back to win a seesaw bout that featured 34 runs and 30 hits on the strength of three big late innings.
First, the Bulldogs rallied with three runs in the bottom of the second inning to tie it. USV regained the lead on a solo home run to right-center off the bat of J.J. Overs in the third inning.
Two singles and a walk produced another run and a 6-4 USV edge. Yet Ada pushed two runs across the plate in the third to knot it up at 6-6.
The Rams went back in front 9-6 in the top of the fourth frame, but Ada regained the lead with five runs in the home fourth.
USV came back to lead 12-11 with a three-run fifth. Yet Ada responded with four runs in the home fifth.
The Bulldogs then took control with five more runs in the sixth to grab a 20-12 margin.
USV scored two runs in its last at bat in the top of the seventh but ended up six runs short.
Swaney knocked out a double, two singles and scored five runs. He swiped five bases, walked three times and drove in three runs.
Hull collected a career-high five RBI on a double, single and three walks. He also stole two bases. Dylan East hit a double, single and scored a run while driving in one.
Coulson hit a single, scored a run and drov eone in, and walked three times. he also stole two bags. Austin Amburgey drove in two runs with a hit and walked three times. He also swiped a pair of bases.
Hall had a hit, scored twice and walked once. Daniel Mattson scored three runs while Jaylin Burkhart scored twice with a hit and two steals. Mattson added three walks and a hit to go with five stolen bases.
Blankenship singled, walked twice, scored four runs and swiped two bases.
Ada stole 21 bases in all while USV swiped eight bags.
Overs hit for the cycle with four hits, four runs and five RBI. Lowery hammered two doubles, singled twice and drove in four runs. He also stole two bases.
Quinn Sanders collected two hits, scored three runs and drove in a run. Connor Sanders drilled two doubles and added a pair of RBI.
USV out-hit Ada 17-13 and both teams committed four errors in the wild slugfest.
Ada sophomore Trent Ennis recorded the win with four innings of relief pitching. He struck out three, scattered seven hits and gave up five earned runs.
The Bulldogs left 13 runners on base compared to seven by USV.
G2 123 456 7 R H E
USV 402 330 2 14 17 4
Ada 132 545 x 20 13 4
WP-Ennis (1-0) LP-Thompson
2B-East (A), Hull (A), Swaney (A), Overs (U), Lowery 2 (U), Thompson (U), Sanders 2 (U), Couyenhour (U)
3B-Overs (U)
HR-Overs (U)
Ada plays at Leipsic Wednesday, April 17 in a non-league contest.
