Rangers Split Series with Slammers

The Dayton Rangers left Bellbrook high school with a doubleheader split against the South Dayton Slammers. The Rangers overcame an 8-0 first inning deficit to win 15-10 in game 1, but fell 9-3 in the second game as the offense and defense faltered.

Zach Carroll started game one for the Rangers, but didn't make it out of the first as four free passes and a Rick Anderson grand slam led to an 8-0 Slammers lead. The Rangers began to chip away in the top of the second as Shawn Schmitt, James Robinson, and Ben Schooler all doubled in succession to make it 8-2. A solo home run by Joe Staten started off the top of the third with a bang. Two outs later, Shawn Schmitt launched a two-run home run to cut into the lead and make it 8-5. The Rangers cut the deficit to one as Joe Staten belted a two-run home run, his second of the game, in the top of the fourth.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Justin Dunlap hit a two-run home run to give the Slammers a little more cushion and a 10-7 lead. The Rangers continued to chip away, this time in the fifth, as Steve Marshall tripled down the right field line to score Schooler and make it a 10-8 game. The score stood the same into the top of the seventh as the Rangers were able to open the floodgates and complete the comeback. Shawn Schmitt singled with one out, and following a strike out, the Rangers would get seven straight batters aboard with two outs. Brandon Riley dropped a single to shallow center to plate the tying runs. Steve Marshall would then reach on a throwing error which gave the Rangers the lead. After a walk to Meeko Gomez and an infield single by Staten to load the bases, Ben Schubert connected on a grand slam home run to center to give the Rangers the final tally of 15-10. Shawn Schmitt relieved Carroll in the first and other than the two-run home run to Dunlap, he was very effective, allowing four hits over the final 6 1/3 innings for his second straight win in relief.

Game two was a whole different story as the Rangers really couldn’t put much offense together to help out starting pitcher Joe Becker. The Slammers started the scoring in the top of the second as Chris Copeland homered, Matt Owens tripled in a run, and Rick Anderson’s groundout plated another for a 3-0 lead. The Slammers added an unearned run in the third as Copeland doubled in another run. Slammers catcher Jamie Burke doubled in a run in the fourth and Ben Butler hit a sac fly to give the Slammers a 6-0 lead. The Rangers finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth as Shawn Schmitt singled in Staten for a 6-1 score. Three unearned runs came across in the fifth highlighted by Rick Anderson’s bases-clearing double that just missed being his second grandslam of the day. With a 9-2 deficit, the Rangers tried to chip away in the sixth as Joe Staten singled in Schooler and Robert Riley’s sac fly scored Jonmarc Lippincott for a final score of 9-3.

Offensive highlights: Joe Staten 6-for-8, 4 runs, 4RBI, 2 home runs, double; Ben Schubert 2-for-7, 2 runs, 4RBI, HR, Shawn Schmitt 4-for-7, 3 runs, 3 RBI, HR, double; Ben Schooler 3-for-6, 2 runs, RBI, double.

Historical Notes: Joe Staten’s four hits in game 1 was a career high for a single game. Shawn Schmitt’s win in game one was his 40^th career win as a Ranger. James Robinson needs 1 more hit to get 200 career hits and 4 more runs to get 100 in the league. Aaron Armstrong needs 2 more runs scored to reach 100 in the league. Shawn Schmitt is 3 strikeouts away from 400 career league punchouts.