Baseball: Marquette Academy outlasts Geneseo in 10 innings

OTTAWA – Marquette Academy senior Gabe Almeda shook his head after fouling off a bunt attempt as he picked up his bat, then smacked it against both cleats in frustration before reentering the batter’s box with the bases loaded.

The next pitch changed his mood.

Almeda hit a high chopper over the pitcher’s mound to score Logan Nelson from third to give the Crusaders a thrilling 10-9 victory over Geneseo in 10 innings on Wednesday at Masinelli Field.

(Gabe Almeda) doesn’t a heckuva lot of at-bats, but he got thrown in the fire today in the eighth inning, then came through in the tenth.”

—  Todd Hopkins, Marquette Academy baseball coach

“I was frustrated, no doubt. I needed to get that bunt down and help the team,” Almeda said. “But that just made me so much more determined to come through. I just choked up; the next pitch was right down the pipe, and I was able to put the ball in play to get the run in.

“It just feels great to be able to contribute and help us get a win.”

The win was the 12th straight for Marquette (21-2), which hosts Midland on Thursday. Geneseo fell to 17-7.

“Gabe didn’t try to do too much,” MA coach Todd Hopkins said. “He just shortened up, put in play and good things happen a lot of times when you do that in that situation. He doesn’t a heckuva lot of at-bats, but he got thrown in the fire today in the eighth inning, then came through in the 10th.”

The Crusaders’ tenth inning started with Logan Nelson reaching on an infield error and stealing second. He moved to third on a deep fly out to center by Krew Bond before Tommy Durdan and Sam Mitre were intentionally walked to load the bases to bring up Almeda.

“Our inability to make plays when there were outs in front of us was a big key today,” Geneseo coach Joe Nichols said. “We had a few plays that while they aren’t maybe necessarily errors in the book, they are outs you have to get. We feel highly of our players to make some plays that we didn’t today. That said, Marquette is a very good team and earned this win today.”

Marquette led 2-0 after a Durdan RBI bunt in the first and a Maple Leafs’ throwing error allowed another run in the third. Geneseo’s Kolten Schmoll tied the game with a two-run home run to left in the fourth off MA starter Taylor Waldron.

The Crusaders scored four in the fifth on an RBI single by Nelson, a run-scoring fielder’s choice by Bond and a two-run double by Mitre.

Geneseo then exploded for seven runs in the top of the seventh, a two-run triple by Jaden Weinzieri the big hit in an inning that included three hit batsmen and a throwing error.

The hosts responded in their half of the inning as Bond and Durdan began the inning with singles. Keaton Davis then knocked in a run with two outs with a single, before Charlie Mullen sliced a clutch two-run double to the gap in left to tie the game.

Nelson (3 2/3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K), who had come into pitch in the seventh for Waldron (6 1/3 IP, 5 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 11 K), retired nine of the 10 batters he faced in the final three innings and earned the win.

Marquette outhit Geneseo 14-9, with Alec Novotney, Nelson, Durdan, Mitre and Mullen all recording two hits each.

“I thought Taylor threw the ball well, but we just had a bad seventh and give Geneseo credit for some of that,” Hopkins said. “I put Logan in a tough spot, but I know he can handle it. He was able to keep their lead manageable, then really pitched three solid innings to keep the game tied.”

“It’s good to go through situations that we faced today. I knew in the bottom of the seventh the kids would fight back, and we were able to get a big hit from Charlie to keep things going. Logan then got on in the 10th to get things started.”