CARDINGTON — In a game that pushed just past the three-hour mark, the Centerburg Trojans dropped a 13-12 heartbreaker to the Cardington Lincoln Pirates in Knox Morrow Athletic Conference baseball action on Wednesday evening.
This was the second meeting in two days for the teams. Centerburg won the Tuesday evening bout 3-1 at home.
Centerburg coach Josh Moss said playing the same team twice in two days requires strategic planning,
“It is a bit of a chess game, you each have seen what the other has to offer,” Moss said.
Battling on the Pirates’ home turf, the game was one rally after another.
The home team jumped to a 6-0 lead with three runs in each of the first two innings. In the third inning, the Trojans exploded for seven runs to take a 7-6 lead.
The Pirates plated two runs in the bottom of inning number five to regain an 8-7 lead.
The never-say-die Trojans scored five times in the top of the sixth and were back on top. The Pirates answered with two tallies in the bottom of the inning, and headed into the final stanza with a stiff wind blowing into left center field and the sun threatening to set, the visitors held a slim 12-11 lead.
They were unable to score in the top of the final inning, and the table was set for a comeback win for the home team. The Pirates did not disappoint, scoring twice in the final inning. With bases loaded, a walk-off single to left field ended the marathon.
“After a tough game, any loss, any pitch, anything that does not go your way, you have to have a short memory,” Moss said. “We’ve got to learn from what happened tonight.
“The things that did not go our way that we could control, and make adjustments, move on, and get better,”
Moss said that the team knew there were certain thugs that had to happen for a win.
“We talk to the guys when we talk internally, there are two out of three battles we have to win,” he said. “We have to win the pitching battle, the fielding and defensive battle, and the hitting battle.
“We didn’t win any of those battles. Tonight, we walked more guys, we hit more guys, and made more errors. When those things stack up, it’s tough to win ball games.”
On April 18 the Trojans hit the road again to battle Mansfield Madison.
(Photos by Dan Werner)
