The Macomb High baseball team had not won a game when scoring fewer than 10 runs this season.
The Bombers had a chance to change that Monday afternoon at Phil Bradley Field in a Prairieland Conference contest against LVC.
But three Bomber errors, along with missed opportunities at the plate, proved to be costly as the Miners recorded a 6-4 victory.
MHS slipped to 11-4 overall, 1-2 in Prairieland play. LVC improved to 9-5 overall, 4-2 in league play.
“I thought we gave away a lot of free outs defensively,” said MHS coach John Ogle. “Balls that should’ve been outs that turned into extra pitches on our guys and also extra runs for (LVC).”
“We probably should have kept them in the 2-3 range if we catch the baseball,” he added. “Then we don’t need to score two in the sixth or seventh.”
Macomb grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
Isaac Leinbach singled to right and scored when Nick Elbe followed with a triple to center.
Elbe scored when Jake Ogle reached on an error by LVC third baseman Oscar McLaren.
The Miners answered in the top of the second, scoring four runs. The Miners had four hits in the inning, but the Bombers also had a pair of runs that allowed two runs to score.
Macomb scored once in the bottom of the third as Emmett Beck was hit by a pitch before Kaden Knupp singled to right, advancing Beck to third.
Jake Ogle then hit a sacrifice fly to center that scored Beck, cutting Macomb’s deficit to 4-3.
LVC used a single, fielder’s choice, stolen base and single to score once in the top of the fourth.
A run-scoring single by Elbe made the score 5-4 in the bottom of the fourth.
The Bombers threatened in the fifth, getting runners to first and second with nobody out. However, the next two batters were retired before Leighton Lambert reached on an infield single to load the bases. However Aiden Reynolds hit into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.
LVC scored its final run in the seventh as a double and an error by Hayden Katz at shortstop allowed a run to cross the plate.
In the bottom of the seventh, Knupp and Ogle walked to open the inning. However, Jaxon Barclay struck out before pinch-hitter Drew Watson flew out to center.
Lambert walked to load the bases but on a 3-2 pitch, Reynolds flew out to right to end the game.
“Missed opportunities was the biggest thing,” said Ogle. “And we beat ourselves a little bit.”
LVC out-hit Macomb 13-8. MHS had three errors, while Miners had two errors.
Elbe had two hits and two runs batted in for Macomb, while Knupp also had two hits.
Leinbach scored twice.
Barclay pitched five innings. He allowed five runs, three earned, on 10 hits. He struck out one and walked two.
Tyler Schulz pitched two innings, allowing one unearned run on three hits. He struck out three and hit a batter.
“We’ve had a lot of games where we’ve scored a ton of runs and that’s covered up some things,” said Ogle.
“(This game) we weren’t able to put up the same number of runs and those things defensively came back to bite us in the butt a little bit.”
Kolby Cleer and Owen Kelley each had three hits for LVC. Kelley scored twice, while Connor Munson had two hits and also scored twice.
Brody Thum also had two hits.
Drake Hanson pitched six innings, allowing four runs, two earned, on eight hits. He struck out nine and hit three batters.
Cleer pitched the seventh, walking three and striking out one.
The Bombers were scheduled to return action Friday, facing Pleasant Plains and Rochester at Pleasant plains before returning to Prairieland play Saturday at Havana.
Photos by Andrea Ratermann
