Sports editor
They sure did make him sweat it out.
When the ball finally landed in shortstop Corey Seacat’s glove, Marion High School head baseball coach Shaun Craft had his first regional victory and the team’s first since 2005.
That team was led by starting pitcher Bryan Swenson. Monday, it was a group of players who hit, played defense, and pitched well to defeat Ellsworth (9-12), 7-6.
Marion was up 7-0, but had just one hit after the fourth inning.
“Pretty much,” Craft said when asked if he held is breath from the fourth inning on. “It was just up to our defense.”
It wasn’t easy however, as Marshall Ragland loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning before inducing the game-ending pop-up.
The Bearcats already had pushed across a run in the inning and had scored six unanswered after MHS jumped ahead 7-0 in the top of the fourth inning.
However, all that mattered after a 3-17 regular season was the fact the Warriors were moving on to the second round of regional action.
The game started well for the Warriors as ace pitcher Brian Fruechting struck out two in the first inning, and got a Warrior rally started with a leadoff double down the left field line in the second inning.
One of the team’s hottest hitters, Adam Maag, then delivered an RBI-single to put MHS on the board, 1-0. Maag went 4-for-4 on the day with five RBIs.
Warrior scoring in the first ended with the Maag single, but the junior came through again in the third with a two-run single, and Marion led 3-0.
In the fourth, Maag delivered an RBI-single for the third straight inning with a bloop to right field. MHS pushed across two more unearned runs for the seven-run lead.
Fruechting was cruising at this point, but eventually gave up his first run in the bottom of the fourth. He did allow just one run after the Bearcats loaded the bases with no outs.
With the Warrior bats starting to fall asleep, Ellsworth pushed across two more in the fifth, but Fruechting came out to start the sixth having thrown only 79 pitches. A walk and a single later, Ragland relieved the starter.
“I started to get a little tired, but that’s what happens,” Fruechting said.
He was happy with his start, and his team’s performance at the plate, against a team they didn’t know much about going into the game.
“We hit the ball well,” Fruechting said. “The whole week of practice helped a lot.”
Craft wanted to advance further but was glad to get his first regional victory.
“That’s what happens when we play like we are capable,” he said.
Beloit 12, Marion 3
The Warriors’ season came to an end Tuesday after falling by nine runs to the Beloit Trojans.
MHS jumped ahead in the first with a run, but gave up four in the first and two in the second to fall behind 7-1.
Wil Case led the offensive charge for Marion, going 3-for-4 with two runs.
Maag continued to be an RBI-machine, knocking in his sixth run in two regional games.
Cole Lewman and Ragland had the other two hits for Marion.