ROSS TWP. — Ryan Merkle was zoned in to deliver Monday night.
The Ross High junior clubbed a two-out single that brought sophomore CJ Boze across the plate, lifting the Rams to an 8-7 win over Southwest Ohio Conference rival Harrison.
“I was pretty much trying to put it in play and make the defense do something with it,” said Merkle, who smacked a 1-1 pitch between first and second to move Ross to 2-0 on the season. “I was just trying to barrel it up more and get a run in.
“We had to keep hitting the ball and stay in the game.”
The Rams brought two runs across the plate in the bottom of the first and added three more in the bottom of the second to grab 5-0 lead.
But the Wildcats (0-4) marched back — scoring four unearned runs in the top of the third — bringing it to 5-4.
“We had our chances to kind of pull away,” Rams coach Ben Toerner said. “We just seemed to make some mistakes here and there. We didn’t seem to execute some things that we’ve talked about in the past — things that it will take to beat a team like that. We just didn’t do that.
“Our dugout never got quiet, though,” Toerner added. “They’re a great group of guys, and they’re always going to believe that they’ve got a chance no matter what — no matter who’s across the field. Some leadership really kept us in this with that attitude.”
Ross tallied two runs in the bottom half of the third to go up 7-4. Again, Harrison didn’t let things get away, knotting it up with two runs in the fifth and a run in the sixth.
The Rams rallied in the bottom of the seventh, and Merkle smacked his single that brought Boze home for the winner.
“They made more plays than we did,” Wildcats coach Shawn Sowders said. “The pitching was all right today on both sides. I don’t think pitching dominated today. It was more which defense wanted to make the play. They made more defensive plays when we did.
“But we’re young, and you can tell by some of the mistakes we’re making,” Sowders added. “We’ve got to look into fixing and correcting those mistakes.”
Junior Ethan Hall (single, two runs), Merkle (two singles, run), senior Keegan Nickoson (single, run), junior Zach Ungermann (single), senior Eric Guckiean (single), junior Ethan Mills (single, run), senior Cooper Shields (single, run), Tyler Hoover (single, run) and Boze (single, run) contributed offensively for Ross.
Junior Hayden Bill (single, run), junior Sean Lawhorn (two singles, two runs), sophomore Masyn Dallio (run), senior Colby Campbell (run), sophomore Carter Daniel (run) and junior Micah Childs (double, run) chipped in offensively for Harrison.
Senior Trevor House started things off on the mound for Ross. Junior Jacob Hackworth started for the Wildcats.
“A league win is a league win, especially against a team like that,” Toerner said. “They’re always good. Sowders over there always has a good team.
“We came back and finally executed a little bit more at the end,” Toerner added. “Those are the things that will do it against a good team like that.”
Ross travels to Harrison on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
