By Drew Terhall

Dailyadvocate.com

GREENVILLE — The Franklin Monroe baseball team got the bats going early and came away with an 11-2 win at Greenville on May 7.

Franklin Monroe head coach Tyler Zimmerman said this was a big win for them after coming off a close loss to Versailles. The team was able to get runners in scoring position and get through the lineup in those scoring opportunities.

“It was a very nice change of pace for us today. Base runners, hits, scoring runs has been a struggle all year. To get those base runners early, even though we didn’t get them in, we tried to focus on later in the game going through with runners in scoring position. The boys executed tonight. Very proud of the way we hit the ball tonight,” Zimmerman said.

The Green Wave made solid contact all game long, it was just to a Jets defenseman most of the time. Greenville head coach Adam Eberwein said it was one of those days where they couldn’t find a hole in the Franklin Monroe defense. They were also behind the eight ball a bit after freshman Isaac Kerg left the game early with an injury.

“Some days, you can’t get the ball to drop in a gap. It’s frustrating for the guys, it gets frustrating for the coaches,” Eberwein said. “We had an injury early on in the game that had to cause some guys to shuffle around. When you are doing that a little bit, it’s hard to find a groove.”

After getting guys on base the first two innings, the Jets scored four runs in the third inning. Two runs came off a RBI single from freshman Braden Gilbert. The other two were scored on Greenville’s only error for the first six innings of the game.

Franklin Monroe scored three more runs in the fourth inning. Gilbert drove in another run while sophomore Madex Skidmore drove in a run on a sacrifice flyout.

Franklin Monroe scored one more run in the fifth and one more in the sixth on a RBI single by sophomore Brandt Filbrun to go up 9-0.

Eberwein said while his team played well, Franklin Monroe had a great hitting day. His team was rewarded for their good play in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Juniors Adam Edwards and Drew Hamilton each had a RBI single to make it a 9-2 game. The team started to string some hits together late in the game.

Franklin Monroe scored two more runs in the seventh inning and closed out the game with their defense.

Both teams played solid defense and got some good pitching performances out of their guys. For the Jets, junior Chase Stebbins started the game and went 5.2 innings and had six strikeouts. Junior Josh Armstrong pitched the rest of the game and closed it out.

Zimmerman said both of those guys have been great on the mound for them this season. They are 5-1 when Stebbins starts the game for them. He said after Stebbins pitched well within his pitch limit, Josh came in and did his job.

“He did great. Once he got to his limit today, Josh came in and did exactly what we asked. Threw strikes and let the defense make the plays,” Zimmerman said.

For Greenville, senior Bryce Blumenstock pitched 3.1 innings and had four strikeouts. Blumenstock and seniors Quentin Garner and Trevor Mardin were honored prior to the game for Senior night.

Eberwein said all three players have been playing for Greenville since they were seven years old and have put in the time and effort each year.

They all come from great families and he is proud of each of those guys.

“Our seniors are good quality young men. They show up to school everyday, their grades are good. When I say quality young men, that’s what we’re trying to here with Greenville baseball,” Eberwein said. “Winning is good, we’re trying to teach these guys also how to be winners. But at the same time, we want to make sure we are instilling good qualities that these kids can take with them after baseball.”

Greenville is 10-14 with a 6-11 MVL record. They will host Butler on May 9 at 5 p.m. and then host Minster on May 11 at noon.

Franklin Monroe is now 8-12 with a 3-5 WOAC record. They will have four straight games before they play their tournament game on Wednesday, May 15 at Covington.

Zimmerman said the team is focused on using this week to get themselves ready for the tournament. So far, they have stacked together two good games.

“We’ve been talking all week about trying to build this week and get to where we want to be for that tournament game on Wednesday. I think this was a very good step in that direction,” Zimmerman said.

Franklin Monroe will be at Preble Shawnee on May 8 and at Fairlawn on May 9 with both games at 5 p.m. They will play Arcanum at Day Air Park on May 10 at 8 p.m. and then head to Bradford on May 11 at 2 p.m.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected].