By Brendan Loiacono/Sinclair Sports Information
Dayton, OH---The home of the Dragons became the home of the Sinclair Tartan Pride for one game on Wednesday as they faced the Urbana Blue Knights in frigid conditions.
The night started with a ceremony honoring the Alumni of Sinclair baseball and a beautiful National Anthem.
The dugout heaters were on and players donned winter jackets and gloves, but both sides were determined to come out victorious on this special day.
Stephen Holland took the mound for the Pride for the opening frame and retired the side in order while striking out two Blue Knights.
In the bottom half of the first inning, Sinclair opened up the flood gates with two runs to jump ahead. Jon Lowe led off the inning with a single, followed by a walk to AJ Kruzel. Both would later score on a two out single to right field by sophomore left fielder Paul Wilson.
Freshman southpaw Joshua Shea was given the ball for the second inning, shutting down Urbana 1-2-3 without a fuss.
In the top of the third inning, it was Carlos Pena who emerged from the bullpen to take his turn on the rubber.
He mirrored Holland's outing with two strikeouts and no base runners. In the bottom of the fourth inning, with one gone, Paul Wilson reached on error committed by the Urbana shortstop.
The blunder would prove costly as Tyler Raymond singled, advancing Wilson to second and Nick McGill drove Wilson in with two outs to make the lead 3-0 Sinclair.
Mason Bach occupied the mound in both the fourth and fifth innings for the pride, giving up just one lone run in the fifth. The scoring continued in the bottom half of the fifth frame when with two out, Paul Wilson sent a fly ball soaring deep into the sunset sky and caromed off the center field wall for a 400 foot triple.
This would score AJ Kruzel who led off the inning with a base hit to centerfield and Austin Downing who sacrifice bunted and reached base via error. With the score now 6-1 in favor of the Tartans, Nathan Helke was granted his chance to show off his skills on the mound in the top of the sixth inning. Helke, with his strong, towering presence on the mound, retired the side in order while striking out two batters.
The Incredible Helk proved that on this day, Goliath was too powerful for David to conquer.
The already commanding 6-1 lead became insurmountable in the bottom of the sixth when Nick McGill led off the frame with a base on balls and advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third base on a passed ball.
With one away, Allen Kruzel lifted a fly ball into the outfield for a sacrifice fly, scoring Mcgill and giving the Pride a 7-1 lead. Scott Haag was tasked with finishing off the game and he did so successfully despite an unearned run crossing the plate, but the doors were slammed shut after that and the Pride walked off the field victorious.