Amherst Summer Baseball Classic: Elyria takes advantage of Midview mistakes to roll into semifinals

ELYRIA — There are many ways to score and win in baseball. Elyria just may have found a few more as they knocked out Midview 13-3 in the Amherst Summer Classic at George Day Field on Friday. The Pioneers will have a chance to defend their championship today when they travel to North Ridgeville at noon. Bay plays at Amherst in the other semifinal with the winners meeting at 3:30 at Amherst for the title. Elyria scored with conventional plays and a few unconventional ones as it took advantage of six walks, five wild pitches and three passed balls to win by mercy rule in five innings. The Pioneers had nine hits, including three doubles. One of the biggest hits was Kaden Gunselman's clutch full-count, two-out, two-run double down the third-base line in the fourth inning that gave Elyria a 7-3 lead and took the starch out of the Middies once and for all. Elyria jumped in front 5-0 after two but Midview scored three times in the top of the third to make it a ballgame until Gunselman's big blow. Gunselman led Elyria's conventional offense with three hits and four RBIs. He also tossed three innings and was credited with the win. "I'm just trying to put something in play to help my team out and get some runs on the board," Gunselman said. "That's all I can do really. I'm not trying to put the ball over the fence or anything." Top-of-the-order guys Isaac Ramos and Derek Riggar led the unconventional part by scoring seven runs by drawing five walks (four by Ramos) and getting hit by two pitches (both Riggar). "That's what I told the guys in the huddle," Elyria coach Ed Piazza said. "When we needed runs you guys bounced back. Had a lead, gave up some but didn't cave on defense. (Midview) was going to hit the ball. That was Kayden's first outing all summer. I knew he was good for about 50, 60 pitches. Derek (Riggar) just throws strikes. He's a pitch-to-contact guy, too." It wasn't hard for Midview coach Ryan "Tank" Morgan to put his finger on the reason his team lost. "Too many errors, too many walks, and in the game of baseball, you can't walk guys and expect to win the game," said Morgan, a former Pioneer and Elyria grad. "Elyria took advantage of that. They did what they were supposed to do up at the plate. Good approach. They were definitely putting their bat on the ball and then we just weren't able to make the simple defensive plays that we needed to, to stay in the game." Midview's Zac Jockel was 3-for-3 with two doubles and drove in one. Jordan Smith and Zac Sprague had the other RBIs Elyria's major league depth on the backstop made life miserable for Morgan and the Middies. Elyria scored runs on three of the wild pitches. "This backstop has haunted me since I played here," Morgan said, exaggerating just a pinch. "When you have eight passed balls, that's eight runs when you have runners on third. Having some inexperienced catchers back there is a tall task. I told the guys before the game, 'I need a brick wall.' They'll learn from this." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com.