By JIM METCALFE

The Delphos Herald

LEIPSIC — Leipsic scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth and held on for a 6-5 non-league baseball victory over Jefferson on a brilliant Saturday afternoon in Leipsic.

The Vikings (5-4) trailed 5-1 entering the home half of the sixth. A 1-out single by Liam Nadler (2-for-3) and a 2-out walk to Jake Ellerbrock brought up leadoff man Derek Mangas. The lefty swinger took a 1-0 offering from junior Austin Clarkson (0-2) high to right field. With the breeze blowing out that way, the ball cleared the fence for a 5-4 scoreboard. Jay Maag (2-for-3) doubled to deep center and tied the game off a single by Nate Schroeder, who took second on the throw home. Jefferson coach Troy Montenery replaced Clarkson with senior Matt Antalis, who walked Jacob Schroeder. Jacob Stall slashed a single into center to plate N. Schroeder for the tie-breaking run. “Give Leipsic credit. They scored all of their runs with two outs; this is not the first time they have come back to beat us,” Montenery explained. “This was our fourth game this week but that’s no excuse; everybody’s pitching is stretched thin. It’s part of the game of baseball. From here on out, we will have five or six games a week because of the weather. We have to realize there’s more to the game of baseball than pitching.” The Wildcats (6-2) got Josh Miller (2-for-2, 2 RBIs) on via a walk by Maag with two outs in the seventh but he fanned the next Jefferson batter to end the game. Maag got the win with 2 1/3 innings of 5-strikeout relief. He hit a batter. “We had one big inning and gave up one big inning. We lost the night before and hit the ball all overt the place; it was just right to people,” Viking coach Darren Henry said. “The good thing about Jay (and starter Jacob Schroeder) is that they throw strikes. At this point, we don’t have a true ace. Whereas Jake stopped mixing it up after the first inning, Jay did; he also challenged their hitters.” Maag delivered a 1-out single in the bottom of the first against Jefferson junior starter Craig Carder (3 innings, 3 hits, 1 earned run, 1 free pass, 4 strikeouts). A balk and a bounce-out by N. Schroeder got him to third but a fly ball to center by J. Schroeder ended the inning. Miller got a leadoff walk in the second against J. Schroeder (4 2/3 innings, 8 hits, 5 earned runs, 3 bases-on-balls). Ryan Kortokrax forced him at second and then got caught stealing. The Purple and Gold got on board in the home half. A double by Nadler plated Stall, who had singled, stole second and went to third on a sacrifice by Levi Haselman. The Wildcats again got a leadoff free pass (to Jordan Jettinghoff) in the third. He was forced at second by Carder. Antalis walked. However, Cory Bastian bounced into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. Leipsic got two on board with one down in the third (a walk to Maag and N. Schroeder being hit by a pitch) but a ground-out by J. Schroeder and a pop-up by Stall ended the threat. The Wildcats tied it in the fourth. Sean Fisher led off with a liner up the middle. An out later, Miller lined a hit up the middle. Kortokrax (2-for-4, 2 RBIs) ripped a single to left to score Fisher and knot the score at 1. Miller advanced on a wild pitch. However, a pop-up (Matt Gerdeman) and a groundball out by Jettinghoff ended the uprising. Clarkson came on in relief in the fourth. The Vikings got two on with two out (a leadoff walk to Haselman and a hit by Ellerbrock) but rightfielder Gerdeman robbed Mangas of a hit with a shoestring catch of his sinking liner in short right. The Red and White went up with a 4 spot in the fifth. Clarkson singled to lead it off. He was forced at second by Antalis. Bastian followed with a knock to right. Fisher nailed a hard shot that hit off of J. Schroeder to load the bases. Aaron Schuerman’s fly ball to right-center was deep enough to get Antalis home and moved Bastian to third. Miller launched a double to the fence in right to plate Bastian and Fisher, In turn, Miller came home via a grounder up the gut by Kortokrax to grab a 5-1 edge and bring in Maag to the mound. He got out of the inning with no more damage. “It was 1-1 for a while there. It took us a while to get into the game at the plate,” Montenery added. “We were getting some good at-bats but then when we got the lead, we relaxed. We fell into some bad habits and didn’t get those quality at-bats. What we have to learn is to play every game all seven innings; we cannot let up.” A throwing error with one down in the fifth got N. Schrroder to second. He advanced to third on a wild pitch. An out later, Stall got throw out at first on a bang-bang play by catcher Kortokrax to keep the score at 5-1. Jefferson got Clarkson aboard with one down in the sixth on a swinging strike three in the dirt and Antalis grounded out to get him to second. However, he was left stranded. “We’re a young team and very inconsistent. We have a freshman and two sophomores starting in the infield,” Henry added. “For us, I have to believe that as we get more games under our belt, we will become steadier. Derek was due for a big hit like that. Jefferson is at Spencerville for a 5 p.m. game today. Leipsic is at Ottoville Tuesday.