Loramie starter Sam Goubeaux pitched 5.1 innings to claim the win for Loramie, their 13th of the season. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
In a sloppy game with Botkins Tuesday, Fort Loramie won 9-3 and moved to 13-5 for the season, undefeated in league play, and the perennial threat come district tournament time.
Botkins, OH – Fort Loramie baseball coach Jeff Sanders admitted that Tuesday’s 9-3 conference win over Botkins was not something for the manual on how to play the game. But, he added, a win is a win.
And Loramie’s win improved their season record to 13-5, and importantly, 8-0 in Shelby County League play, ahead of Anna and Russia.
VPP proudly sponsors Ohio State baseball on Press Pros Magazine.com.
Botkins’ loss drops the Trojans to 5-8, overall, and 1-5 in the SCL standings.
Publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA and Ohio State sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
“It was one of those games that wasn’t pretty,” said Sanders, in his eighth season as coach of the Redskins, a former state champion in Division IV from 2018. “But, we had some good at bats, got big hits at the right times, stole some bases at the right times to give ourselves a chance to score. And [Jack] Cotner came in and did a great job, bases loaded and one out. And what more can you ask for?
We did enough good things to win.”
Sanders, a former pitcher for the University of Dayton, has as good a feel for the nuances of baseball as anyone you’ll find in the high school game. And there is a feel for the game, as well as the fine line between playing well and playing poorly…the little things that help you win and keep you out of trouble.
“We gave up too many free bases tonight,” added Sanders, resolute about the fact, though not all that upset with a 9-3 win.
“And we’re not good enough to do that and count on winning,” he said with a smile. “But we’re doing enough of the right things to be competitive. We don’t really hang our hats on any one thing. We just come out and compete.”
Fort Loramie starting pitcher Sam Goubeaux tags out Botkins runner Hudson Meyer as he tried to score on a wild pitch in the second inning of Tuesday’s Loramie win.
Pitching, of course, is the be all and end all in baseball, and Sanders admits, “We pretty much do it by committee, as far as having that dominant stopper like we’ve had in the past.”
And Tuesday night, Sammy Goubeaux was the committeeman, a righthander who scrapped and clawed and competed enough to get the Redskins into the bottom of the sixth inning with a 6-3 lead.
Knapke Kitchens and Baths proudly sponsors Ohio State sports on Press Pros Magazine.com.
But it didn’t start that way. Botkins got into Goubeaux in their first at bat with a one-out walk to Hudson Meyer, a stolen base, and an RBI single with two outs by Elijah Schuller.
Botkins starter Ethan Bornhorst made that run hold up until the top of the third when Loramie evened the score with a base hit and a steal of second, later to score on a two out walk with the bases loaded.
Loramie added a pair of runs in the fourth as control became a problem for Bornhorst, who on the night finished with five walks and four hit batsmen.
Up 3-1 in the fourth, the Redskins against took advantage of Bornhorst’s lack of command, scoring three times in the fifth aided by walks, a hit batsman and a double by Carson Arnold.
Botkins came back to score twice in the bottom of the fifth with a walk, a base hit, and an RBI double Schuller…6-3, Fort Loramie.
But Bornhorst ran out of gas and strikes in the sixth, relieved by Phil Hall, who surrendered a run in the sixth and two in the seventh to conclude the scoring and the game, a 9-3 win for Loramie.
It was a game marred by 7 hit batsmen, 12 walks, and just five strikeouts (by both teams) for the game.
“I told the guys, that every time we come over here we struggle,” said Sanders. “They’re scrappy, we just don’t play well, and they’re pesky enough to give us trouble. They’re pretty good. It was their day today, but they’re well-coached, they execute the fundamentals, and we’re not good enough to take anyone for granted.”
Ethan Bornhorst pitched well enough into the fifth to give Botkins a chance to win. “They’re pesky and we always struggle when we play over here;” – Loramie coach Jeff Sanders.
But Loramie is good enough with 13 wins to get at least a #3 seed in next week’s tournament draw. The question will be, if not good enough to take anyone for granted, can they pull off some of the old Loramie magic from tournament years past?
“To me, Division VII is as good as any year,” said Sanders. “There’s still some great baseball teams in our district, like Cedarville and Newton, and there’s teams that are better than us. And we’re going to have to play well down the stretch to get that good seed. And then. you look up at the Northwest with Minster, Kalida, and Delphos St. John, there’s plenty of good baseball teams.
“And we don’t have that bonafide #1 pitcher, so we have to do it by committee, as I said. No one’s been able to step up and take the reins with that, and we try to find the best matchups. Today Sammy Goubeaux was the man from the committee.”
Not unlike a lot of high school baseball teams.
But this much we know. Tuesday Loramie showed patience at the plate, made hard contact on the good pitches they got, they were aggressive on base, and gave themselves chances to score. That’s a start.
Keyhole Pizza supports all local sports.
The next two weeks will be vital to their post-season chances, but it’s not a situation that Sanders and the Redskins have not dealt with before. For years, going back to the state title wins in 2007 and ’10 against Newark Catholic, they simply found a way on that day to be as good as they had to be. Teams can play down to the level of competition they face.
But they can also play up. And if there’s a one sentence scouting report on Fort Loramie, it might simply start with…you have to pitch well to beat them.
Jeff Sanders can respect – live with – that!
Wilson Health/Orthopedics proudly sponsors the best in area sports and the Ohio State Buckeyes on Press Pros.