HAMILTON — Caleb Driessen wasn’t fazed when Fenwick threatened with a runner at third in the bottom of the fourth. The Badin sophomore right-hander had enough energy to power through.
Driessen fanned Falcons senior Michael Thomas for the third out, stomped off the mound and let out a boisterous yell. The Rams went on to take care of business at the plate an inning later.
“It got me pumped up,” Driessen said. “It got me going. That was a big K for me. I knew as soon as I threw it that it was going to be strike three. It kind of popped into my head, and I was like, ‘Oh, yeah. That felt good.’”
Driessen pitched four scoreless innings and struck out seven as Badin opened Greater Catholic League Coed play by scoring eight runs in the top of the fifth to beat Fenwick 11-0 on Friday night at Foundation Field.
The Rams (4-1, 1-0 GCL Coed) are on a four-game winning streak and have won 10 out of the last 11 against the Falcons (1-2, 0-1 GCL Coed).
“It was a good game overall,” Driessen said. “I just went out and competed. I had my brothers behind my back. I knew my defense was going to play good. So in the end, I knew everybody was behind me. I knew everybody was going to have my back.”
After a week of inclement weather and unplayable conditions, Fenwick took the field for the first time since a 5-0 loss at Wyoming on March 27. Badin’s last game was a 7-6 win over Bloom Carroll on March 30.
Friday night’s contest was scheduled at Fenwick but was moved to Foundation Field.
“It’s been a rough week for us not playing,” Badin coach Brion Treadway said. “The weather has been really demoralizing, and it was nice to get out on the field tonight. Hopefully winter dies here in the next couple of days, and we can move on to nicer weather.
“This week has been something we’ve never really experienced. We hadn’t played in a long time, and it’s cold. I’m not making excuses, but it’s just whatever. We’re just happy to get on the field and play against another team.”
Austin Vangen and Austin Buckle each singled to start the third inning, and they came around to score on a couple passed balls by Fenwick starter Trieg Matthews. Cooper Ollis reached on a bunt and later crossed the plate when Kyle Anderson walked with the bases loaded to give Badin a 3-0 lead.
“When they get those first few runs at the beginning, it gets me going,” Driessen said. “It almost asserts my conscience and tells me that I can go after them more.”
The Rams, who only had five total hits, tallied most of their eight runs in the fifth on wild pitches. Ollis went 2 for 2 with two runs and an RBI.
“Anytime we walk out of here with a win,” Treadway said. “I thought their starter was really good. He’s got huge upside. I think he’s going to be a really good pitcher.”
Matthews went 4 1/3 innings, had nine strikeouts but gave up six walks. Tristan Bezold went 2 for 2, while Carter Williamson had a hit for the Falcons.
“Trieg, he pitched really well,” first-year Fenwick coach Rob Goodale said. “We talked to him. He’s brand new to varsity. It’s his first big conference start, and he pitched really well we thought. Those first few innings were electric. We’ve just got to do a better job of supporting our pitchers so that they can pitch with a lead and have some energy. We’re working on that.”
Goodale said there are still pieces of the offensive puzzle that need to be put together in the early going for his Falcons.
“But we saw some good things there, too,” Goodale noted. “We’re going to try and keep rolling.”
The Falcons host Preble Shawnee on Saturday, April 6, but senior ace Carrson Sova will get the nod against Badin on Monday, April 8, at Alumni Field.
“Sova is our Monday guy throughout the season,” Goodale said. “That’s where we feel we will get the most out of him and try and protect all of our staff in terms of their workload. We’ve got a lot of talented starters. So we kind of picked days of the week for them rotation wise.”
The Rams start a three-game homestand at Alumni Field with Fairmont at 1 p.m. on Saturday. They’ll play Fenwick on Monday and Carroll on Wednesday.
TOP-NOTCH FUN
Treadway and his Rams took a trip to Top Golf on Thursday to get through the lull in action due to the recent weather.
“Spring break is usually a very fun time for a Badin baseball player,” Treadway said. “We spend a lot of time at the field, and this weather has really hampered our ability to get after it like we normally do.
“We took the day off from baseball — just try to have fun. That was a lot of fun just to be around the guys outside of the baseball field.”
QUOTEABLE
“We know what we’ve got from our top-end guys on our roster who have been there before and have been varsity players for several years,” Goodale said. “For the most part, those guys have shown exactly what we’ve expected from them so far. It’s just bringing the whole roster along and helping get them ready to go.
“We’ve been pleased with the work they’ve put in practice — especially when we’ve been stuck inside, having to make last-minute changes. They’ve really rolled with the punches and are developing some resiliency, which is good. It’s one of the values of our program that we try to instill. We’re going to keep working.”
