The Utica/Beaver Crossing/Friend Legion senior baseball team picked up its first win of the summer June 13, beating Hebron 16-14.
UBCF trailed 8-3 after the second inning, but scored two in the third, five in the fifth and six in the sixth.
In the fifth inning, Shawn Rathjen was hit by a pitch to lead off. Jayde Gumaer reached on an error and Will Vyhnalek walked to load the bases. Lorenzo Vespignani drew an RBI walk to make the score 10-6.
With two outs, Vyhnalek scored on a wild pitch. Cooper Girmus then doubled to drive in Vespignani and Conner Clouse, who reached base via a walk and took second on a wild pitch. That made the score 10-9. Keenan Kosek singled to center, driving in Girmus and tying the score.
Hebron scored two in the top of the sixth for a 12-10 lead.
In the bottom of the inning, Rathjen led off again, reaching base on an error. He scored on a double by Gumaer. Vyhnalek drew a walk, and Vespignani reached on an error to load the bases. Breckan Schluter was hit by a pitch to score Devin Slawnyk, who was running for Gumaer.
With one out, Vyhnalek stole home and Vespignani and Schluter each moved up a base. Girmus grounded out to second but drove in Vespignani on the play, giving UBCF a 15-12 lead.
Kosek walked and stole second. Jesse Duba singled to right to drive in Schluter and Kosek for a 16-12 lead.
Hebron added two more runs in the top of the seventh, but the Badgers held on for the win.
Girmus and Duba drove in three runs each. Kosek was 3-3 with a double, as well.
Girmus and Rathjen shared the pitching duties, combining for eight strikeouts in seven innings.
UBCF competed in the Cornerstone Classic at York June 16-18 and went 0-4 with losses to Chick-Fil-A 16-0 June 16, 18-1 to Cornerstone Bank (Geneva) June 17, 16-1 to SOS June 17 and 10-7 to LWW June 18.
The Badgers allowed 12 runs in the first inning of the loss to Chick-Fil-A. UBCF had just three hits in the game, one of them a double by Girmus.
The bats were silent against Cornerstone Bank, as well, with UBCF recording just two singles.
Against SOS, an 11-run fourth was the big blow for the Rebels. UBCF’s Vespignani went 2-3 and scored a run.
The offense came back to life against LWW but couldn’t overcome nine runs in the first three innings. Kosek went 3-4 with two doubles, drove in two and scored twice.
Girmus was 2-4 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored.
The Badgers (1-13) play at Wilber Friday, June 23, at 8 p.m. Their next scheduled game is Thursday, June 29, at home against Sutton at 8 p.m.
