Articles by Thomas Duzan
Friday, March 27 - Lions get win in home opener over Neoga in dramatic fashion
The unpredictable nature of March weather in the state of Illinois shifted a couple of game dates for the Marshall Lions on the baseball schedule. As a result, they played four games on the road but were only victorious in one. So you could bet they were ready to play in front of the home crowd at Hornbrook Field on Friday, despite the chilly conditions, as they hosted the Neoga Indians.
As for the game, it was almost as complete a game as the Lions have played so far. Not without a couple of blemishes, but they stayed in the game thanks to three home runs for the game. It took until the last at-bat but Marshall was able to grind out a win in the first home game in a walk-off manner, winning by the final of 9-8.
Reed Ramey was tapped as the starting pitcher for the Lions. He got off to a slow start in giving up a leadoff triple to Garrett Ballinger and then an RBI single to Malik Coy. From there he got Braylon Sparrow to fly out, then Cayden Hakman reached on an error. Evan Fearday then grounded out, and a walk was issued to the next batter, Grady Haarman.
Ramey was able to keep the damage at a minimum with a strikeout of Callen Lanham. Marshall was able to counter the run in the bottom of the first in a big way. Branson Maskell led off being hit by a pitch. Ramey came up next and drew a walk. After that came Garrett Pugh, who was first pitch swinging and belted a long three-run home run out to left field to put Marshall on the board.
After Eli Thompson and Liam Keim both struck out, Max Welsh was hit by a pitch and Shane Tarble singled. They would make their way around to second and third but were stranded there when Tucker Osborn lined out to center. The three-run homer gave Marshall a 3-1 lead going to the second.
Ramey struck out Jack Finney and Mason Platz to start the second, then surrendered a walk to Neoga’s leadoff hitter Ballinger. He was able to get out of it unscored upon after Coy grounded out for the third out. Marshall went back to work with the bats in the bottom of the inning.
Though it was an auspicious start with Gavan Propst striking out and Maskell grounding out, Ramey was able to take advantage of the wind blowing straight out and knocked a home run of his own, a solo shot out to right-center field. Pugh then doubled and Thompson got on with an infield single.
Pugh would come around to score on an RBI single for Keim. A strikeout of Welsh ended the inning but not before two more Lion runs made it 5-1 after two.
It was in the top of the third when Ramey ran into some trouble on the mound. Sparrow and Hakman came up first for the Indians and picked up two straight hits. Walks were then issued to Fearday and Haarman, the latter of which brought in a run. He was able to strike out Lanham and Finney, but another bases loaded walk to Platz brought in another run.
A two-run RBI single for Ballinger brought Fearday and Haarman in to score to tie the game for a moment. It was brief because Marshall retook the lead in the bottom of the third. Tarble and Osborn struck out for the first two outs, then Propst came up to the plate and knocked a deep fly ball out to left.
On any other day it might have resulted in a flyout to left at or just short of the warning track. But on this day with the wind blowing out, it carried out over the wall for a solo home run, the third of the game for the Lions. That gave the Lions a 6-5 lead going to the fourth.
A couple of runners got on for Neoga in the top of the fourth as Fearday walked and Haarman singled, but Ramey got Lanham to pop out on the infield for the third out and to keep Neoga off the scoreboard. The bottom of the fourth would be one of the few where Marshall went scoreless so the game went to the fifth still 6-5 in favor of the Lions.
Tarble came on to pitch in relief of Ramey in the fifth. He gave up a leadoff hit to Finney but otherwise was able to retire the side. The Lions added one in the bottom of the inning. After a flyout for Tarble, Osborn got on with a single. Two batters later, he came around to score on an RBI single for Maskell. That made it a 7-5 game going to the sixth.
The Indians scored once more in the top of the sixth when Fearday reached on an error, on which Coy came around to score. Thompson got on with a hit in the bottom of the sixth but was caught looking to steal second. So after six innings the score was at 7-6 Marshall.
That set the stage for a wild seventh. Platz started the Neoga half off with an infield single. Then, unfortunately for Marshall, a Neoga took advantage of the wind direction and Ballinger hit a two-run home run to put Neoga up 8-7. The side was retired in order from there, but not before the damage was done.
The bottom of the seventh got off to a good start for Marshall. Ayden Houpt had come into the game and saw several pitches and worked a leadoff walk. He soon after took second base. Then, Tarble and Osborn went down with strikeouts. Up next was Propst. He hit a grounder to third baseman Lanham, but Lanham’s throw to first sailed over the first baseman’s head and Houpt scored the tying run as a result.
Propst made his way to second on the play to put himself in scoring position as the winning run. He would score as that winning run when Maskell hit a line drive to left-center that turned into a walk-off RBI single, giving the Lions a 9-8 walk-off winner.
Saturday, March 28 - Lions outlast Shelbyville in offensive slugfest
On Saturday the Marshall Lions made the lengthy trek over to Shelbyville to face off against the Shelbyville Rams, who were off to a 3-1 start on the season. They had averaged eight runs a game in their first four games.
That continued into this game, but fortunately Marshall was able to score just a bit more, overcoming four errors in the field to get a one-run win by the score of 11-5.
The Rams put up a five spot in the bottom of the first, and the Lions were unable to respond until the fourth inning when they scored four times to cut it to a one-run game. Shelbyville scored three in the bottom of the inning, then Marshall added five in the fifth to make it a 9-8 lead.
The Rams added one to tie it in the sixth but then the Lions came back with another run in the top of the seventh to retake the lead, where it stood until the end to give Marshall the win by the 10-9 final.
For Marshall, Reed Ramey was 2 for 4 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. Branson Maskell went 2 for 4 also and had two RBIs and a run scored. Garrett Pugh went 1 for 4 with a home run, his fourth of the season.