Menu
Seven-run fifth lifts Dexter baseball over Kelly
DEXTER - Despite the 10-0 final score, Wednesday afternoon's contest between the Dexter Bearcats and Kelly Hawks was not the blowout it appeared to be.
Going into the fifth and final frame, the hometown Bearcats held a 3-0 lead, scoring all three in the first.
Kelly pitcher Jeff Gates had settled down after that initial outburst by Dexter's offense to hold the Bearcats to one hit and two walks over the next three scoreless innings.
In the fifth frame, however, defensive errors by the Hawks plus the wear and tear of four innings of high pitch counts finally proved too much to overcome as Dexter's offense capitalized on Kelly's woes for seven runs on five hits to end the game on the mercy rule.
"Things just kind of unraveled for us in the fifth inning," Hawk's coach Nate Wills said. "I felt really good about going into the bottom of the fifth being down 3-0 and thought we had a shot if we could just get some more base runners.
"Defensively, things just snowball sometimes and that's what happened today."
Dexter's lineup combined for eight hits on the afternoon, with center fielder and lead off hitter Brandon Stoker leading the way going 3-for-4 with singles in the first, fourth and fifth frames.
Catcher Sawyer Smith, who was 2-for-3 with 2 RBI and a double, credits the team's offensive outburst to a momentum swing.
"We got some big plays out there in the field that helped kind of turn our momentum around a little bit and we just kept hitting and put some runs on the board," he said.
On the mound for his second start of the young season, Dexter's Cody Stause had a solid performance, going all five innings allowing only one hit and five walks while striking out 11 to earn the win.
Seven of Dexter's first nine outs came courtesy of strikeouts with the other two coming from pick-offs at first base in the first and third innings.
"Cody's got a good pick-off move," Dexter coach Brian Becker said. "Kelly's a young team and they might not have faced a senior (pitcher) with as good of a move as Cody has.
"He did a good job of working out of his own trouble."
Second baseman Shawn Heuring had the lone hit for the Hawks, a single in the third, going 1-for-2 on the afternoon.
In all, Kelly had six base runners, with one in scoring position.
Wills credits the team's base running mistakes on keeping them out of the ball game early.
"We had three (mistakes) on the base paths and that did hurt us, especially when this early in the year when you're not getting that many guys on you have to take advantage of your opportunities," he said.
"We had one out, one on and got that second out real quick on the base paths. That just kind of deflates any kind of momentum you have."
The match drops Kelly to 0-3 on the year while Dexter improves to 1-1.
Kelly 000 00 -- 0
Dexter 300 07 -- 10
WP -- Cody Stause (1-0). LP -- Jeff Gates (0-1). Multiple hits -- (Kelly) none; (Dexter) Brandon Stoker 3-for-4, Sawyer Smith 2-for-4, Corbin Matthews 2-for-3. Extra-base hits -- 2B: (Kelly) none; (Dexter) Smith, Matthews.