Warriors snap 12-game skid years ago
Six-run inning gives Marion first win, topping Trojans 7-5
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
The heartbreaks have come quick, and they've come often for the Marion Warrior baseball team, who has been hungry for its first win.
Many times, the top of the ladder has been within the Warriors' reach, but somehow, the rung always seems to break, adding up to 11 straight losses.
After tumbling Monday, 8-3, in the opener at Hillsboro, the starved Warriors' streak of tough breaks had stretched to 12 games.
It almost appeared as if the streak would grow to 13 with the Trojans jumping out to a presumably safe 5-1 lead with Marion down to its last six outs.
The famine finally came to an end in the top half of the sixth inning with the Warriors (1-12) swiping the deciding six unearned runs for a desired 7-5 win.
"We've been taking baby steps all season and we're getting closer every time," a joyous Marion coach Shaun Craft said. "We've had some big innings, but we haven't ever been able to keep a lead.
"We got the lead in the sixth and we were finally able to finish it."
The Warriors jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the top half of the first inning in the opener from an RBI single by Zane Fine, and a Wil Case double off Trojan starter Troy Frick.
Marion's lead only lasted two-thirds of an inning, though, with Fine walking four Trojans, including the tying run with just one out.
It was a bobbled catch to shallow right-field that proved to be the Warriors' back-breaker, allowing the go-ahead run to score.
A final walk left Marion doubled up at 4-2 before Craft turned to Calvin Jeffrey to stop the bleeding and escape the inning without further damage with Hillsboro leaving the bases loaded.
In Fine's brief stint, he only surrendered two hits, the pivotal two unearned runs left him with the defeat.
Marion had a golden opportunity in the top half of the second to retake the lead with Frick loading the bases with two outs.
Matt Thierolf was hit by a pitch to help cut the lead to 4-3 and knock out Frick after one and two-thirds innings of work, but he was still credited with the win.
From that point on, Trojan reliever Isaac Leihy limited Marion to a pair of hits with the Warriors leaving the bases loaded and stymie their chances of getting back in the game.
Aaron Burnett doubled in the seventh, but the damage was too severe to overcome.
"The first game was the same thing," said Craft of the defeat. "We've got a lot of inexperience and we're inconsistent about putting it together for a solid seven innings."
Leihy stayed on the mound in the nightcap which proved to be a rubber match with Burnett starting.
Burnett had a no-hitter going through three innings while the Warriors had only managed two hits themselves.
Case finally broke up the shutout in the top half of the fourth, scoring from third on a double steal for the 1-0 lead and polish off Leihy.
The no-hitter collapsed in the bottom of the fourth with Burnett giving up a pair of hits, including the game-tying single.
Marion added two more hits in the fifth inning never being able to push any runs across.
A catastrophic fifth inning appeared to suck the life out of Marion as well as give relief to freshman Brian Fruechting.
The Trojans took the lead off a sacrifice fly and rallied for three more runs with two outs off a pair of basehits, including a two-run single to leave the Warriors in a 5-1 hole.
While the Warriors had yet to taste a victory, they've battled all season.
They were at last rewarded with Hillsboro spotting Marion all six of its final runs off a bases-loaded walk, a hit batter, and a quartet of fielding mistakes in the top of the sixth.
Hillsboro's last threat came in its half of the sixth inning with the tying run onboard at second with one out.
Fruechting escaped with the Trojans leaving runners stranded at second and third for both the victory and the save.
"That says a lot about a freshman pitcher stepping up in a tough situation," Craft said of Fruechting.
"This win means a lot, especially to our younger guys, they know they can do it now. The older guys can build off that and maybe build some momentum going into regionals now. We're starting to hit the ball like we should be."
Marion suffered another tough pair of losses April 27 at Hoisington despite Jeffrey going 7-for-8 and a home-run.
The Cardinals nipped the Warriors with 6-5 and 5-4 losses, respectively.
The Warriors are going to need all the momentum they can get after a Tuesday trip to Lyons.
Marion then gets a rematch at home against Hillsboro before hosting always-tough Nickerson Monday for the April 13 makeup game with both games set to open at 4:30 p.m.
