NORTH ROBINSON — Colonel Crawford picked up a huge win on Monday at home over Wynford behind a offensive rally. The Eagles were victorious by a 12-7 score.
The Royals (11-5, 8-1 N10) jumped out to a 2-0 lead quickly when the bases were loaded up. Cainen Allen and Grant McGuire each recorded RBI groundouts.
Wynford was not done doing early work. Leyton Appleby, Cody Taylor, and Spencer Miller each knocked in runs in the top of the second to gain a 5-0 lead.
Eagles pitcher Drayton Burkhart hit a couple batters early and wasn’t really himself. Burkhart would shake it off and battle back for the complete game win.
“I’ve never seen him hit two batters in a season, let alone an inning,” said Eagles coach Dan Gorbett. “He had a slow start but once we battled back, he finished strong for us.”
In the bottom half of the second inning, the Eagles got on the board when Caleb Lohr recorded an RBI groundout. Micah Thomas added a RBI himself to make it 5-2 after a pair of innings.
The freshman Thomas added four hits for Crawford.
Fourth-inning heroics proved the be the turning point for the Eagles, putting up a four-spot to take a 6-5 lead that would not be surrendered. Cade Hamilton bolted a two-RBI double and then scored on a Carson Feichtner single. Mason McKibben scored Feichtner.
“I told them we can’t expect to get five runs in an inning, we have to chip away,” Gorbett said of his team rallying.
Thomas would again come alive for the Eagles in the fifth inning, knocking in a run and then scoring on a passed ball. Feichtner added another run batted in on a sacrifice fly. Brock Ritzhaupt hustled home on a passed ball to cap a huge fifth inning for Crawford making it 10-5 after six.
Hamilton recorded his fourth hit in the seventh inning, batting in another run for his team. Ritzhaupt added a sacrifice fly to put the Eagles up 12-5 with three outs to go.
“Micah has really been coming on strong, he had a great game. Cade had a bunt with the shift and a nice hit down the line, a really good game,” Gorbett said.
A last-inning effort by Dylon Robinson added two more for the Royals when he knocked a double to the fence.
“We had our backs to the wall and did a great job coming back,” Gorbett said.
Sam Collene went four innings for Wynford on the mound and took the loss. Zach Harer and Grant McGuire both helped in relief.
With the win Colonel Crawford (13-0, 9-0 N10) is alone in first place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.
“One game a time. It would be nice to enjoy it tonight, but we only have a one game lead with Wynford just a game back,” Gorbett said.
