Steel Valley Storm

By Matt Maher 

LEAVITTSBURG, OH – The Vikings battled the Springfield Tigers in the battle of the top of the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference (MVAC). With good pitching and heavy hitting the Vikings blasted their way past the Tigers 14-4 in 4 ½ innings. 

Dylan Simpson got the start for LaBrae and looked solid in his only inning pitched. Simpson found 1 strikeout and gave up 1 hit in 5 batters faced in the frame. Kolton Ruark gave the Tigers a full inning as well but was not as successful as his counterpart Simpson. Ruark gave up 3 straight hits including a leadoff double from Owen Boone and a RBI double from Landon Brunstetter immediately after. Simpson found a RBI single in the 3rd spot but the first out would be found when Brogan Collins struck out swinging.

The inning continued with RBIs from Austin Rowe and Aiden Doll and 2 more Ks on Jacob Ellis and Owen Boone to end the 1st. LaBrae opted to relive Simpson with Brunstetter who sat down the Tigers in order including 2 Ks! The Tigers countered with Parker Dobson who started the inning by finding 2 outs on the first 2 batters but had trouble from there when LaBrae scored 3 runs off of 4 hits before Dobson finally sat them down with a strikeout looking on Doll.

The final pitching change for LaBrae came in the 3rd when Austin Rowe took over. Rowe would concede the first 3 runs of the game for Springfield thanks to a RBI triple from Blake Jefferies, a RBI single from Ruark and an RBI single from Jackson Easley before a 6-3 double play finally ended the inning. The Tigers would make their last pitching change in this inning too when they put Liam Wylie out on the bump. 3 more runs scored thanks to a Boone RBI double, a Brunstetter sac-fly and another Rowe RBI single.

The Tigers woes continued into the 4th where Rowe had a nice bounce back inning, only facing 4 batters giving up 1 hit and earning his first K along the way! Wylie gave up the final 2 runs. With 1 away Collins hit a fly ball to deep left field and Boone scored. Rowe would bring in Simpson on a short single to 3rd base. Wylie ended the inning with a strikeout on Lucas Glaser. 

The Tigers needed 2 more runs to keep the game alive for at least a full inning and after 2 straight hits after the first out was recorded the odds looked good. Ensley came to the plate with 2 runners in scoring position and flew out to center but then Parker Dobson stepped up and hit a double into left field but only 1 run was able to score. Rowe had to face Wylie one more time and after a few pitches, Wylie grounded a ball softly to Glaser at 1st and the game came to its end.

The Vikings have been red hot all season and that continued thanks to the combined efforts from Simpson, Brunstetter and Rowe on the mound and the perfect 4-for-4 day from Rowe who hit an RBI single every time he stepped up! The Tigers (12-6) will move on to face Poland on the road on May 7th at 5PM while LaBrae (14-4) will be back at home on May 6th hen they host Garfield at 5PM.