Ben Subler goes airborne for third base and his fifth inning triple that drove in an insurance run in Tuesday’s win over Delphos St. John. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
On a night made for meteorologists, Versailles’ Ross Francis fights the wind and a little rain to hold down Delphos St. John and gain an important MAC win.
Versailles, OH – The wins you really have to work for are the ones you value the most…the ones you remember.
And Versailles senior lefthander Ross Francis could write a book following Tuesday’s 4-2 win over Delphos St. John and righthander Cam Elwer, who matched Francis nearly pitch-for-pitch for five innings in conditions sanctioned by Weather.com.
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With wind gusts up to 30 miles per hour, the gathering gloom of storm clouds on four sides, and a light misting rain at times, Versailles squeezed out a run in the bottom of the first inning on a Ben Subler single and a Sam Deland RBI double, and Francis would nurture that 1-0 lead for the next five innings despite throwing over a hundred pitches in the process.
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Elwer, better known for his basketball skills, is nonetheless a strike-throwing machine who on this night fought through the same elements, surrendering eight hits and a walk, and somehow managed to pitch his way out of traffic through 4.1 innings…throwing 103 pitches to do it.
Versailles finally chased Elwer and added to its lead in the fifth with a leadoff single by Carson Bergman, an RBI triple by Ben Subler, a single by Francis to drive in Subler. Francis later scored on a fielder’s choice.
“People don’t realize how hard it is to play that long with a 1-0 lead,” said Versailles coach Brad Koopman. “We felt like we were dominating on the mound and with the way we played defense for five innings. But you’re only one hit away from a team stringing something together, and even as good as Ross was, he still walked quite a few batters and they had men on base every inning. We really had to lock in to finish this thing out.”
Starter Ross Francis threw 122 pitches in 6.1 innings to secure Versailles’ 11th win of the season.
People likewise overlook the competitive character of an athlete who has to fight not only the conditions, but the challenge of throwing enough strikes to both avoid trouble, and pitch your way out of trouble. Francis would last 6.1 innings and his pitching line would read: 6.1 innings, 2 runs (both earned), 2 hits, 6 strikeouts, and 9 walks with 122 pitches thrown…and just 59 of them for strikes.
Francis never had a clean inning, finally leaving three pitches short of the high school pitch limit with one out in the top of the seventh inning after the first two St. John hitters reached base on a hit and a walk. With one out Cam Elwer lined a hit to left field to drive in both runs and Koopman came out to get him. Reliever Owen Mendenhall came on to relieve, retiring the final two outs on a fly ball and a strikeout.
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“Adjustments,” said Francis, afterwards, explaining his struggles to pitch with efficiency and to keep St. John runners off base.
“Tried to regroup myself…to just go out and give my team a chance to win.”
Wind and rain?
“Early in the year, maybe,” Francis added. “But now it’s just playing in Ohio. You’ve got to go out there and trust yourself and trust the guys behind you to make plays.”
And on a night when MInster, St. Henry, and Coldwater all won, a win and whatever it took was important to keep pace, and gain some edge for another league game with Fort Recovery on Thursday.
“Yeah, because it gives us a little momentum with the next game,” said Francis. “Helps the guys to stay confident and stay focused to get that next win.”
Delphos St. John starter Cam Elwer pitched into the fifth…threw 103 pitches.
“What we need is for somebody to beat Coldwater,” Brad Koopman said.
And he meant it. Versailles, Minster, Marion Local…all of them have one league loss, trailing Coldwater who’s 6-0, and whose biggest remaining threats appear to be Marion Local on Monday and Minster on May 8th.
“But we’ve got to come out and be ready to go every time,” Koopman added. “The MAC is tough, and we can’t afford another loss because we’ve already lost a tough one to Coldwater. There’s no room for it. You gotta’ come with it every day.”
In between, Ross Francis gets a week’s rest and some Icy-Hot…ultra-strength!
He’s earned it.
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