MADISON TOWNSHIP — Seth Ohl and his Madison teammates never lost their composure.
A crafty left-hander, Ohl overcame a rocky first inning and the Rams rallied for a 7-6 win over Ashland in Ohio Cardinal Conference action Tuesday at Madison.
It looked like it might be a short outing for Ohl as Ashland sent nine men to the plate and scored three runs in the top of the first, prompting Madison manager Nate Taylor to get his bullpen busy before most fans had found their seats.
The Arrows (8-9, 3-4) added another run in the top of the second to take a 4-0 lead before Ohl settled into a rhythm in the middle innings. He mowed down the Arrows in order in the third and fourth before giving up a solo home run to Chase Hunt to start the fifth.
“I settled down and felt a lot more confident,” said Ohl, who relied heavily on a two-seam fastball and curveball. “I just had to pitch to contact and trust my defense.”
Madison (6-13, 3-6) began its comeback in the home half of the second, scoring a pair of runs on Jarrett Mandusic’s suicide squeeze, and took the lead for good with three runs off Ashland ace Chase Hunt in the third. Cole Applegate stroked a two-run double and later scored on a wild pitch. The Rams added two more runs in the fourth on Ohl’s two-run single to right for a 7-4 lead.
“He is one of the better pitchers in the conference, so to be able to come out and score some runs on him and put some pressure on them, it was a big deal,” Taylor said. “He’s got a good fastball, a good curveball and he mixes in the change-up and spots his pitches well.
“We were able to square some balls up and put some pressure on him.”
Hunt’s solo shot to start the fifth cut Madison’s lead to 7-5. Ohl retired the next two batters he faced before allowing a single to Logan Fulk and walking Ethan Truax, bringing an end to his day after 4.2 innings. Reliever Hunter Church gave up a single to Andrew Somsak, but Fulk was gunned down at the plate trying to score from second for the final out of the frame.
“We scratched and clawed and got back in it,” Ashland skipper Rick Gough said. “If it hadn’t been for a good relay, we might still be playing.”
Ashland trimmed Madison’s lead to 7-6 in the sixth on Parker Grissinger’s RBI single. The Arrows would leave men at second and third, however, as Church coaxed an inning-ending groundout to short.
Church struck out the first two batters he faced in the seventh before Somsak reached on a two-out error. Church induced a popout to end the game.
“We have a tendency to let one mistake become two mistakes,” Taylor said. “We were able to overcome some mistakes and battle back today.”
Madison’s leading hitter this spring, Ohl had a pair of singles and drove in two runs. Applegate doubled and scored twice.
Leadoff hitter Jon Metzger was 3-for-4 with a double and scored twice for the Arrows. Hunt was 2-for-2 with a triple, a home run, two runs scored and two RBIs. Kam Mowry singled and scored twice, while Fulk had a pair of singles and two RBIs.
