Gremlins clean up the mess, top New Franklin 17-16

“Good job in cleaning up the mess.”

Those were the words of wisdom Sacred Heart coach Steve Goodwin issued in the postgame huddle, just moments after his team endured a three-hour marathon against New Franklin that included 33 runs, 27 hits, 11 errors, six pitching changes and a handful of questionable calls that had both coaches in a frenzy.

But through the ups and downs, which included two squandered eight-run leads (8-0, 13-5) by Sacred Heart, the Gremlins found a way to, as coach Goodwin put it, “clean up the mess.”

Nicolai Cox and Sam Liston drove in four runs each and every position player logged a hit as the Gremlins (9-5) broke a 13-13 tie in the top of the seventh inning and held on for the 17-16 win on Tuesday night at Centennial Park.

“We didn’t do ourselves any favors,” Goodwin said. “If we have any aspirations of playing well in districts, we can’t play like we did today. We can’t pitch like we did today. We can’t field like we did today. We can hit like we did today, and that would be nice. But otherwise there’s three phases and in two of them we were pretty bad today.”

The Gremlins’ defense committed five errors and four pitchers combined to give up 10 hits, 11 walks and 13 earned runs, but the offense carried its weight in the win. Chris Pottorff, Jacob Harlan, Ryan Gerrish, Cox, Liston and Caleb Morrison each had a pair of hits and Wes Register went 3-for-5 as the offense produced from the get-go.

Following a nearly flawless opening half of the first frame, the Gremlins came out swinging. Leadoff batter Pottorff singled up the middle to start the game and, following an error on a hard-hit ball by Harlan to third, Register brought home Pottorff with a jam-shot for the first run of the evening. Cale Spangler followed with a walk and, after a Cox strikeout, Liston doubled home Register and Spangler with a gapper to right-center field to stake the Gremlins to a 3-0 lead.

Following Rock Curry’s second nearly flawless inning, the offense struck again. Gerrish walked, Pottorff recorded a bunt single to third and Register singled to load the bases. Spangler and Cox followed with back-to-back run scoring walks and Liston drove in another pair with a single up the left side. Curry capped off the five-run second with a fielder’s choice to score Cox to put the Gremlins up 8-0.

Highlighted by a grand slam from pitcher Nate Brown, the Bulldogs’ lineup batted around against Curry for five runs in the third. But Sacred Heart would answer with a five-spot in the bottom half of the frame as Gerrish, Spangler and Cox tallied base knocks to push the lead to 13-5.

The Bulldogs, though, would continue to chip away at the lead. Taking advantage of three walks from Spangler, who relieved Curry in the fourth, the Bulldogs put up four runs to draw within 13-9. After being retired in order in the fifth, the Bulldogs then hit reliever Nik Langston hard. Capitalizing on two errors, three hits and a pair of walks, the Bulldogs knotted the score at 13 in the sixth.

The Gremlins responded in dramatic fashion. Gerrish led off with a double to right and advanced to third on a wild throw, and Pottorff proceeded to drive him in with a fielder’s choice. Harlan then doubled Pottorff home, and three batters later, Cox added two RBIs to give the Gremlins a 17-13 lead.

After cleaning up Langston’s mess in the sixth, Harlan survived a rocky seventh as he stranded the bases loaded after giving up three runs for the win.