Commodore Comeback Against Edison State Comes Up Short

March 18, 2024 - - The Lorain County Community College baseball team missed a chance to salvage a tough weekend with a win on Sunday at Edison State Community College but ran out of steam.  The previous day at Sports Force Parks in Sandusky, Ohio, the Commodores lost pace with the Delta College Pioneers in both contests after keeping the things close in the early innings. 

Recap – Delta College

Game 1 – 19-0 (5 innings)

The Pioneers and Commodores appeared evenly matched in game one for the first three innings. Delta threatened with runners in scoring position but were unable to get any runs across against LCCC's starter Silas Skvor (Oberlin, Ohio/Firelands HS). The Commodores had their chances early on as well, with Hunter Cahl (Elyria, Ohio/Elyria HS) and Jaden Nestor-Fox (Vermilion, Ohio/Vermilion HS) getting into scoring position in the first and third innings.

But in the fourth inning, the Pioneers broke through for four runs and then added 15 in the fifth frame.

Game 2 – 10-2

After the Pioneers scored three to lead off game 2, LCCC answered back with a pair of runs of their own. Cahl singled with one out and moved to second base when Kian Ortiz (Lorain, Ohio/Clearview HS) singled to right field.  Cahl scored when Matt Roesel (Lorain, Ohio/Lorain HS) reached first on an error by the Delta shortstop.  Ortiz scored on a wild pitch in the next at bat.

The game stayed within reach for LCCC until Delta scored seven unanswered runs over the final three innings.

Recap – Edison State

Game 1 – 17-1 (5 innings)

LCCC trailed by only three runs until disaster struck in the bottom of the fourth when the Chargers plated 13 runs and chased starter Caleb Shinsky (Lorain, Ohio/Clearview HS) from the game. Shinsky had kept Edison relatively in check until the fourth with three strikeouts. Tyler Deluciano (Cleveland, Ohio/Holy Name HS) doubled and scored LCCC's only run when Joseph Mealey (North Ridgeville, Ohio/North Ridgeville HS) drove him home in the fourth inning.

Game 2 – 12-11

LCCC nearly stole a game from the Chargers when they scored seven times in the top of the sixth of game two, knotting the contest up at 11.  Before that, they got a pair of runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to cut Edison's lead in half, 8-4.  Mason Shultz (Vermilion, Ohio/Vermilion HS) and Joey Kulwicki (Grafton, Ohio/Midview HS) scored in fourth.  Nestor-Fox (Vermilion, Ohio/Vermilion HS) led off the fifth with a solo homerun.  Shultz struck again in the sixth when he had a bases-clearing double to cut the Edison lead to 11-7. He scored off a two-out double from Mealey two batters later. 

From there, the Chargers issued five straight walks to the Commodores and the game was tied in the sixth inning.  Edison plated one run in the bottom half of the sixth to regain the lead.  LCCC threatened with the tying run on base in seventh but couldn't capitalize.

Notes

• Nestor-Fox had his second career homerun, has hit safely in 7-of-8 games, and leads the Commodores in batting average (.423), runs scored (8), and total hits (11).
• LCCC had 11 RBI against the Chargers in game 2, a season-high
• Commodore pitching combined for eight strikeouts in game two against Delta, a season-high
• Kulwicki's double in game two against Edison was his third of the season, a team-high.
• Skvor's strikeout on Sunday was his 10^th of the season, a team-high

Next Up

The Commodores will play two doubleheaders against the Triceratops of Cuyahoga Community College this weekend.  LCCC will travel to Tri-C on Friday starting at 5 p.m. and then host on Saturday at Sports Force Parks in Sandusky. First pitch of game one on Saturday is at 3 p.m.