Morris baseball rallies to top Wilmington

MORRIS — Michael Metesh was in the middle of nearly everything for the Morris baseball team Tuesday in a 5-3 win over Wilmington.

Metesh went 2 for 2, scored a run, drove in a run in the three-run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning that brought the Redskins (4-2) from a 3-2 deficit to a 5-3 lead, and then came on to pitch in the seventh inning to record the save.

"Michael is really finding his groove," Morris coach Todd Kein said. "He swung the bat well when we were in Jacksonville and he has carried that back here. He looks comfortable at the plate, and he's a big part of the middle of our lineup."

The Redskins took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Patrick McCabe led off with the first of his two hits, and was forced at second on a grounder to short by Payton Voitik. Voitik then stole second and came around to score on a single up the middle by Kameron Dransfeldt. Voitik's headfirst slide beat the tag of Wilmington catcher Tyler Long and put Morris ahead.

Redskin pitcher Luke Olbrot worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the top of the second without allowing a run before Metesh led off the bottom half with a single. A wild pitch send him to second, and a fly to right by Olbrot got him to third. Metesh scored when a balk was called on Wilmington pitcher Garrett Roth.

Wilmington answered with two runs in the top of the third to tie the game on a two-run single by Josh Jones.

The Wildcats took a 3-2 lead in the top of the sixth. Long led off with a double to left and went to third on a grounder to first by Will Van Duyne. Brock Bolser walked, but was caught stealing for the second out. Roth then delivered an RBI single to left to score Long.

In the bottom of the sixth, Danny Borgstrom led off with a single for the Redskins, who host Minooka on Wednesday, and Dransfeldt was hit by a pitch. Tyler Dunne laid down a bunt, and Borgstrom slid in safely to third ahead of Long's throw to load the bases. Metesh then singled to left to score Borgstrom with the tying run. An out later, Olbrot grounded into a fielder's choice, with Metesh out at second, but driving home pinch-runner Nathan Wantland with the go-ahead run. Jared Lines followed with a single to left to score Dunne for a 5-3 Morris lead.

Olbrot, who went six innings, allowing five hits and three runs while striking out one, walked leadoff hitter Will Heinline to lead off the seventh, and Metesh came on in relief. He got Kyle Lewis to ground to third, and Heinline was forced out at second. Connor Dempsey then hit a sharp grounder to short, which was fielded by Borgstrom, who fed to Lines for the force and second and Lines fired to first to complete the double play and end the game.

"Micheal really loves that role," Kein said. "Luke Olbrot threw well today. He made some pitches he would like to have back, but he gutted it out. He will keep getting better.

"I wasn't thrilled with our offensive production in the middle of the game. We didn't have a lot of productive at-bats, but we were able to squeeze out a win. We made some mistakes that put us in bad situations. We don't have much margin for error with the schedule we have coming up. This will be a real test for us the rest of the week."

After playing Minooka on Wednesday, the Redskins visit Oswego on Thursday and host Streator on Saturday.