Scoring 10 runs in five games normally spells disaster for a baseball team, but the Southern Ohio Copperheads overcame a weeklong drought to maintain a high standing in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League.
Despite their offensive struggles, the Copperheads enter the All-Star break with a 15-10 record, including three wins in their last five games.
I like (our position) a lot
infielder Zach Hartle said. Our pitchers are showing a lot more poise on the mound. They know if they can give us six innings we can go to our bullpen. The bullpen has been pretty good lately and we've been scoring runs.
However, neither the bullpen nor the bats showed up to Monday night's doubleheader against the Columbus All-Americans.
Copperheads starter John Karr pitched five scoreless innings in game one but received a no-decision.
I had pitches working at the right time
Karr said. I wasn't on my best game today. I gave up five hits
but I think I did some good things in some big situations. I also had some good defense behind me; I can't say enough about those guys. They were just able to make plays while I was in there.
The newest addition to the Copperheads bullpen, Kyle Cowden, debuted in the sixth inning and proceeded to give up five runs in just a on-third of an inning. After Cowden exited, the All-Americans tacked on three more runs for the 8-0 win.
Columbus completed the sweep with a 2-1 victory in game two. The Copperheads managed only two hits in the loss.
Runs were sparse earlier in the week as well, but the Copperheads pitching staff compensated for the lack of offense with three strong outings.
On Saturday afternoon, the Copperheads traveled north to face the Delaware Cows. Hartle supplied some belated fireworks, smashing a fifth-inning grand slam over the left-field fence. Five strong innings by Dominique Rodgers solidified the 4-3 victory.
During Sunday's doubleheader with the Anderson Servants, the Copperheads again struggled to scrape together runs. Southern Ohio scored only five times in the two games but still earned the sweep because of impeccable starting pitching.
In game one, the Servants were completely outmatched against starter Adam Gingras. Gingras scattered five hits in six shutout innings to earn his third win of the season, 2-0.
Once I established my off-speed pitch
I could keep the batters guessing
Gingras said of his dominating performance. I also only had (two) strikeouts today
so the defense played great behind me.
In game two, the Copperheads surrendered two early runs, but the offense ground out one run in the second and one in the fifth to even the score. Infielder John Koehnlein's RBI-double in the sixth inning completed the 3-2 comeback victory.
The Copperheads sit in fifth place at the All-Star break, three games behind the Lima Locos, the league's leaders.
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