By Cort Reynolds
ADA - The host Ada baseball team lost a tense 4-3 battle to backyard rival Allen East in Northwest Conference action Monday evening.
The Bulldogs fell to 5-4 and 1-1 in the NWC with the league defeat, while AE improved to 4-3 and 1-1 in the NWC after the hard-fought win.
Hustling sophomore center fielder Zac Swaney gave Ada a 1-0 lead in the first inning when he stole home plate.
In the top of the fourth, Mustang Jordan Motter led off with a double over Swaney's head in center field. An infield hit put runners on the corners with none out.
Consecutive RBI sacrifice fly ball outs by Nathan Ketchum and Carter Frey gave AE a 2-1 lead.
In the top of the fifth, AE added to its lead. A leadoff walk and a stolen base was followed by a pop-out and a groundout. Starting Ada hurler Connor Frazier then issued a two-out walk./Users/fredsteiner/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Mail Downloads/C30FB4E1-1BDA-439D-AA6B-472A6B161BC4/Ada vs AE bb sb ten 4 8.txt
A pickoff throw attempt at first base sailed past Jaylin Burkhart and up the right field line, allowing the third AE run to score. Frazier then struck out the last batter to keep the score at 3-1.
In the bottom half of the fifth, Swaney beat out an infield single. The speedster then stole second and third base.
Sophomore second baseman Brandon Hull pulled a single past diving Mustang shortstop Bradden Crumrine to plate Swaney and cut the deficit to 3-2. But a strikeout ended the inning.
In the top of the sixth, Swaney made a fine diving catch in right-center field to rob the leadoff hitter. But a pair of two-out singles and a misplay put AE runners on second and third base.
However, Frazier got out of the jam by retiring the next batter on a fly out to Swaney.
In the Bulldog sixth, Austin Amburgey led off with a single. A pinch runner advanced to second base on a wild pitch. But a strikeout and a groundout ended the Ada threat.
In the top of the seventh against junior reliever Phillip Coulson, the Mustangs added a crucial insurance run on an infield RBI hit to lead 4-2.
In the Ada half of the seventh, Ethan Hall drew a one-out walk. After a wild pitch, Swaney struck out. Hull drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch from AE closer Evan Shafer.
Down to their last out, Coulson smacked a clutch one-strike single to right field to drive in Hall and cut the lead to 4-3. Coulson then stole second base to put the potential winning run at second, with Hull on third with the tying run.
However, Shafer reared back and struck out Amburgey looking to end the threat and save the game.
Swaney, Hull, Coulson, Amburgey, Daniel Mattson and Frazier each hit singles for the purple and gold. Ada out-hit AE, 6-4. Hull and Coulson each had an RBI while Swaney swiped four bases. Hull also walked twice and stole a base.
AE left eight runners on base compared to seven by Ada. Motter, Miller, Frey and Crumrine had the four Mustang hits.
Motter pitched four solid innings in relief, allowing three hits and one earned run to get the win. Frazier allowed just four hits and two earned runs in six innings. He walked eight and struck out five, throwing 114 pitches and 57 strikes.
Ada made two errors while the Mustangs played error-less defense.
123 456 7 R H E
AE 000 210 1 4 4 0
Ada 100 010 1 3 6 2
WP-Motter LP-Frazier
2B-Motter (AE)
Ada (4-1 home) is scheduled to host Waynesfield in a non-league game Tuesday, April 9.
