Roundup: Early deficit dooms River View; Coshocton, Ridgewood win

NEW CONCORD — One bad inning haunted River View on Friday night.

Blade Barclay belted a two-run home run in the first inning, and the Muskies plated five in the second, thanks to a pair of Black Bear errors, to build a 7-0 lead.

It was too much to overcome for visiting River View in a 7-3 loss in a Muskingum Valley League Big School Division contest.

Trace Davis took the loss, allowing seven runs, two earned, on seven hits with six strikeouts in a complete game.

River View coach Todd Liberatore applauded his pitcher's effort despite the early deficit. He also commended his squad for battling back, as Cruz Mobley ended the no-hitter with a solo blast to right field in the fifth.

The Black Bears (5-6, 5-4) loaded the bases in the sixth on singles by Slater Sampsel, Bryson Fry and Brody Shrimplin. Sampsel scored on Owen Emig's fielder's choice and Fry came home on an error during a pickoff play at first.

"Trace battled, and I thought he was as good as he's been all year," Liberatore said. "He got up 0-2 on the first batter of the game then hit him and made a mistake to Barclay. He threw well in the second, but there was a botched pickoff and some errors. It's hard for any pitcher to get through that.

"I told our kids last week, two weeks ago, we lose this 15-0 in five because we would put our heads down and it would snowball," he added. "Our kids sucked it up and kept it right where it was. We didn't give up a run to a good hitting team after the second so that's a positive."

Finding a way to limit big innings will be a focus moving forward, noted Liberatore. He sees things to build on entering the second half of the season.

"We came into the season with little varsity experience, and we need to keep growing," he said. "Our kids are trying, and it's fighting some inconsistency. We were fielding at a .980 clip in the first four games so we know it's there. We have to go out and make a few more plays."

Colin Campbell earned the win for the Muskies (8-2, 6-1), giving up four hits, fanning five and walking two in six innings and Gunner Fox had two of John Glenn's seven hits.

Coshocton 25, Crooksville 4 (6 inn.): The visiting Redskins (5-4, 5-3) trailed 4-1 entering the fifth before scoring 24 runs over the final two innings of a MVL Small School Division win.

Blake Alexander's two-run single put Coshocton up 5-4 in the sixth and Colton Conkle added a two-run single in the frame.

It allowed Coby Moore to earn the win in relief, as he fanned three and allowed one hit over the final 1 2/3 innings.

Travin Berry singled and knocked in four runs, Kobe Rust, Conkle and Alexander each had two hits and three RBIs, Hudson Wesney singled and knocked in three runs and Zach Jennings doubled and scored for the Redskin offense.

Austin Love had two hits and scored twice for the Ceramics (2-8, 1-8), and Daniel Chapman took the loss, giving up seven runs on five hits in 4 2/3 innings.

Ridgewood 4, East Canton 2: Winning pitcher Andy Troyer struck out nine and gave up four hits in a complete game effort for the Generals (4-4) in an Inter-Valley Conference crossover.

The Ridgewood offense provided early support. Kauelen Smith scored on an error on Cohen Cabot's groundball with two outs in the second, while Troyer came home on a Smith groundout, Alex Stroup singled home Zander Stroup, and Chase Booth scored on an error in a three-run third.

Alex and Zander Stroup each had two hits for the Generals.

Chase Vacco allowed six hits and struck out four in a complete game loss, while Simeon Snyder connected on a two-run homer in the fourth for the Hornets.

Softball

Ridgewood 17, East Canton 5 (5 inn.): Ava Kulbacki and Tarryn Morris knocked in three runs apiece to lead the host Generals (3-8) to an IVC crossover win.

Morris' two-run single highlighted a three-run first inning. Kulbacki brought home two runs with a single in a six-run third, while Maggie Shannon ripped a RBI double and Morris, Kylah Patterson and Carah Mladek hit RBI singles during an eight-run fourth.

Kulbacki threw all five innings for the win, allowing five runs, one earned, on five hits with four strikeouts and two walks. She also went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs.

Shannon also had three hits and Patterson and Morris collected two each.

John Glenn 12, River View 2 (5 inn.): The host Muskies used an 8-run fifth to move to 11-1 overall and 9-1 in the Big School Division after a five-inning mercy.

Brynna Wolford and Bella Birkhimer hit two-run singles in the fifth, Ryann Snider added a run-scoring triple and Hannah Bendle singled home Snider to cap the mercy.

Bendle went 4-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs and earned the win in the circle, giving up two unearned runs on three hits with four strikeouts in four innings. Snider also had three hits and scored three times in the win.

Bridgette Bible took the loss, surrendering eight runs on seven hits in four-plus innings, while Quinn Hoy tripled and doubled with a RBI and Raelee McPeak singled for the Lady Bears (2-10, 1-8).

Crooksville 10, Coshocton 0 (5 inn.): Winning pitcher Gracie Peck tossed a three-hitter with six strikeouts, as the Ceramics moved to 10-2 overall and 6-2 in the MVL.

Crooksville used an 8-run fifth to cap the mercy, as Jaelynn Nelson started the scoring with a RBI single, while Peck had a RBI single, Emma Wilson and Jailynn Theisen earned bases-loaded walks, McKenna Headley was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded then Nelson hit the walk-off RBI double.

Headley, J. Nelson and Peck each doubled and singled in the win.

Olivia Lee suffered the loss in the circle, and Keeley Murray, Alison Cox and Savannah Bartlett all singled for the Lady 'Skins (0-11).

Track and Field

River View boys third at Electric Invitational: The Black Bears totaled 83 points, and the Lady Bears were seventh with 51 in the 11-team field at Duncan Falls.

The 4x200 won in 1:36.01, and the 4x400 (3:43) and 4x800 (8:51) were second to highlight the relays for the River View boys. Sam Adams added seconds in the 800 (2:02.78) and 1,600 (4:36); Dominic Durben placed second in the 110 hurdles (16.8); Koda Klein came in third in the 400 (55.59), Jamal Watts took fourth in the 100 (11.69) and Hunter Miller was fourth in the 3,200 (11:06) to round out top-4 placers.

Cortney Bookless came in second in the 100 (13.72) and fourth in the 200 (28.55) to lead the River View girls. Caily Shriver took fourth in the 300 hurdles (53.3), the 4x100 (54.59), 4x200 (1:58.29) and 4x400 (4:39) relays were fourth and Kirsten Courtright placed fourth in the pole vault (7-6) as other top finishers for the girls.

This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Roundup: Early deficit dooms River View; Coshocton, Ridgewood win