Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NORTH MANCHESTER -ÊOne inning can decide a baseball game, and the Manchester Squires and Tippecanoe Valley Vikings learned that in a Three Rivers Conference match Wednesday night.
The Vikings picked up their first TRC victory with a 13-8 win over the Squires.
Manchester took a 1-0 lead after the first inning when a double by Klint Rupley sent Kyle Powers across the plate.
But 12 of Valley's 13 runs came on an offensive explosion in the third inning. Richie Swanson started the inning by reaching first on a walk. Jeremiah Haney reached first on an error by Todd Dale, and Derek Sausaman hit a single to load the bases for Phil Jackson. Jackson laced a double down the right-field line to send Swanson and Haney across the plate.
Then B.J. Cunningham hit a double to deep center field to send in two more runs. Drew Deardorff stepped to the plate and hit a dribbler past the shortstop to send Cunningham across the plate. An error by Anthony Sorg allowed Wes Backus to reach base and put runners on first and third, and then Kevin Day hit a single to score another run.
After Caleb Shewman was hit by a pitch, the Vikings started through their rotation again. Swanson struck out for the first out of the inning, and then Haney was hit by a pitch to send Backus across the plate. A fielder's choice by Sausaman brought Day home, and a bunt for a single by Jackson juiced the bases again.
Then Cunningham stepped to the plate with two outs. With two strikes, he hit a grand slam over the left-field fence to send four more runs across the plate for the Vikings.
"It was time a senior who stepped up at an important time for us," said Valley coach Scott Backus. "Until tonight, B.J. had one hit in three conference games. He's .500 on the season, so he was due to come out and make something happen."
After Cunningham's grand slam, the Squires got the third out of the inning but found themselves in a 12-1 hole.
However, the Squires did not give in. In the bottom of the third, the Squires started to chip away at Valley's lead. Jon Gratz hit a single down the first-base line to send Drew Walters across the plate, and Bob Kamp made it home on a passed ball. Brent Westendorf hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Gratz and cut the Viking lead to 12-4.
The Squires continued to produce runs in the fourth inning. Adam Young started the inning with a single, Anthony Sorg walked and Walters hit a single to the gap at second to load the bases. Kamp walked to send Young home, and Gratz hit a single down the third base line to send Sorg and Walters across the plate. Eventually Gratz came home after Dustin Simcoe was hit by a pitch.
At the end of the fourth inning, Manchester inched closer to the Vikings, and the score was 12-8.
However, Manchester was unable to get any closer. Valley scored an insurance run in the top of the seventh and went home with a 13-8 victory.
"It was an ugly win," said Backus. "We had one really nice inning, but then we tried to give it away. It's kind of a broken record-type thing. I think we get tense, and that makes it hard to play well."
"We dug ourselves another deep hole and couldn't get out of it," said Manchester coach Jack Rupley. "We have to start making plays defensively, and our pitchers need to do a better job of hitting spots."
Cunningham led the Vikings, going 4 for 5 with a grand slam, a double, six RBIs and two runs scored. He also pitched 3 2/3 innings with one earned run, two hits and four strikeouts.
Gratz was 3 for 4 at the plate with three RBIs and two runs scored for Manchester. Gratz's teammate Klint Rupley was also 3 for 4 with two RBIs and a stolen base.
The win improves Valley's record to 9-10-1 overall and 1-2 in TRC play. Manchester falls to 5-15-1 overall and 0-3 in the TRC.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 13, MANCHESTER 8
Valley ab r h rbi
Sausaman 2b 5 2 1 0
Jackson ss 5 3 3 2
Cunningham 3b 5 2 4 6
Deardorff p 5 1 1 0
Backus c 4 1 0 0
Day cf 4 1 1 1
Shewman 1b 1 1 0 0
Swanson rf 3 1 0 0
Haney lf 1 1 0 1
Totals 33 13 10 10
Manchester ab r h rbi
Sorg ss 3 1 0 0
Walters 2b 3 2 1 0
Powers lf 1 1 1 0
Kamp p 2 1 1 1
Gratz rf 4 2 3 3
Rupley p 4 0 3 2
Westendorf cf 2 0 0 1
Bucher rf 0 0 0 0
Simcoe c 2 0 0 1
Dale 3b 3 0 1 0
Kelsey 3b 1 0 0 0
Young 1b 3 1 2 0
Totals 28 8 12 7
Valley 00(12) 000 1 - 13 10 0
Manchester 103 400 0 - 8 12 2
DP - Valley 2, Manchester 0. LOB -ÊValley 6, Manchester 7. E -ÊSorg, Walters, Kamp, Dale. SB - Kindig, Cunningham, Rupley. Sac - Westendorf. 2B -ÊJackson, Cunningham, Rupley. HR -ÊCunningham.
Valley ip h r er bb so
Deardorff, W 3.1 10 7 7 3 0
Cunningham 3.2 2 1 1 1 4
Manchester ip h r er bb so
Rupley, L 2 6 9 5 1 0
Kamp 5 4 4 3 3 2
Rupley pitched to 9 batters in the 3rd.
Deardorff pitched to 4 batters in the 4th.
HBP -ÊShewman (by Rupley), Haney (2 by Kamp), Simcoe (by Cunningham).
