Grand Lake Edges Scouts in Back-and-Forth Battle
Sid Phillips strikes out 11 as Scouts battle league-leading Mariners
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 3 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 1 |
XENIA, Ohio – The Xenia Scouts carried a four-run lead into the sixth inning Tuesday night and rallied late in the ninth, but ultimately fell 8-7 to the Grand Lake Mariners at Grady's Field.
After building an early advantage behind timely hitting and a dominant start from Sid Phillips, the Scouts saw the Mariners rally before mounting one final comeback attempt that came up just short.
Xenia opened the scoring in the first inning on a sacrifice fly from Mayo Fernandez before extending the lead with three more runs in the fourth. Ethan Papalios drove in a run on a sacrifice fly, Cooper Schutte followed with an RBI single, and Steven Schneider capped the inning with a run-scoring single to give the Scouts a 4-0 lead.
Grand Lake began its comeback in the sixth, cutting the deficit in half before adding another run in the seventh. The Mariners tied the game in the eighth, but Papalios answered in the bottom half of the inning with a solo home run to even the score at 5-5.
The Mariners reclaimed the lead with three runs in the ninth inning. Xenia responded once again as Gabe Mathison tripled home Steven Schneider before Fernandez added a sacrifice fly, but the Scouts were unable to complete the comeback.
Phillips turned in one of his strongest outings of the season, allowing two runs over 5.2 innings while striking out 11. Schneider finished with three hits and two RBI, while Papalios drove in two runs, including the game-tying home run. Mathison added an RBI triple in the ninth as the Scouts battled until the final out.