Rangers Win Season Series from Royals

  The Dayton Rangers pulled out a much needed win over the Kettering Royals on Sunday to clinch a 3rd place berth in the league tournament.

      Jacob Robinson started on the mound for the Rangers and went the distance striking out 3 over 9 innings of work to improve his record to 3-2 on the season.

      The Rangers took an early lead scoring 2 runs in the top of the first. Jonmarc Lippincott hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Brian Robinson. And Ethan Goetz, who stole 3rd base, scored on a throwing error from the catcher. Clint Wolf added an RBI double in the next frame to tie the game at 3-3. The Rangers then put up a 6-spot in the third to increase the lead to, what one may think to be, a comfortable lead. But the Rangers bats went silent after the Royals brought in relief pitcher Jace Anders, who shut the Rangers out until the 9th inning. Staked to a 9-8 lead going into the ninth, the Rangers added an important insurance run. Jake Kingsolver and Joe Staten led off the ninth with singles. Kingsolver scored on a groundball hit off the bat of Jacob Robinson to take a 2-run lead into the bottom half of the ninth.

      All of the Rangers/Royals games in 2004 were decided in the last at-bat. The Royals won the first game with an RBI single in their last AB. The Rangers won the next matchup when Ethan Goetz drove in the game-winning run with a 2-out double in the bottom of the 7th inning. Why should this game be any different? The Royals' Jace Anders led off with a walk in the ninth. Then Langdon stepped up a drove a line drive to left field that Jake Kingsolver "supermanned" into a game-saving catch to stop the rally monkey from rearing his ugly head. The Royals did get one run back after a sacrifice fly. But Jacob Robinson induced a pop fly to Matt Hood along the first base fence to preserve the Rangers victory.

      "The Hit Machine" Brian Robinson went 5-for-5 with 4 singles and a double to finish the regular season batting a team-high .472. Jake Kingsolver and Joe Staten each had 3 hits. Ethan Goetz, Jonmarc Lippincott, James Robinson, Clint Wolf, and Scott Sundermeyer all added doubles.