Bernie relievers squelch Dexter rally - eventually

DEXTER – The message was clear that Bernie High School baseball coach Marcus Massey sent to Mule relief pitchers Seth Teel and Leightin Hicks as they worked against Dexter on Thursday at East Park.

“When you have a 6-0 lead going into the seventh (inning),” Massey said afterward, “I’m going to come up here (as a reliever) and I am going to give you my best. I’m going to throw everything that I’ve got right here and you’re going to have to earn it.”

Teel and Hicks were solid – eventually – but not before the Bearcats rallied in their final at-bat before falling 6-4.

“It’s always good to see a team fighting,” first-year Dexter coach Steve Edwards said. “No one wants to lose the game, obviously. But we’re still identifying who we are.”

The Mules (3-2) were rolling through six innings, as junior pitcher Jayden Robinette had his slow curve working magnificently and he shut the Bearcat bats down.

Through five innings, Robinette allowed just two Dexter hits and no runs, as he struck out five and walked just two in 90 pitches.

“Our starter came out today,” Massey said, “and threw great. He worked ahead in the count, and we had a lot of short innings.”

While Robinette was doing his part, the Bernie bats were methodical in scoring six runs in as many innings.

Mules Hunter Newton and Cody Massey opened the second inning by drawing walks off Bearcat starter Cole Nichols, which were followed by singles hit by Hicks and James Stanfield, the latter making the game a 1-0 Bernie lead.

Robinette helped his cause by singling Massey home off Bearcat reliever Jackson Howard for a 2-0 game, while Landon Ellsworth sacrificed Hicks home for a 3-0 margin.

Bernie added a run in the fifth when Robinette connected for a single, advanced to second on a single from Ellsworth, moved to third on a steal, and came home on a Dexter error for a 4-0 score.

In the sixth inning, Teel relieved Robinette and walked two of the first three Bearcat batters he faced, which brought some hard coaching and a mound visit out of Massey.

Teel settled down and got consecutive outs to end that inning, and Bernie looked poised to cruise on home with a comfortable win.

“We got behind the eight ball a little bit,” Edwards said, “and made a couple of errors.”

Stanfield and Ellsworth both scored in the seventh for a 6-0 lead, but Dexter decided that it wasn’t going to go away quietly.

Bearcat senior Logan Jelinek opened the final Dexter at-bat with a walk, and Fisher Menly came in to pinch-run for him.

Houston Neely banged out a single, while Nolan Alford then got hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Ryan Young brought home Menly on a single, which was followed by senior Kaeden Kennedy smoking a pitch off Hicks, who had replaced Teel, to centerfield, which scored Neely and Alford for a 6-3 game.

“We walked the first guy,” Massey said exasperatingly, “we’re nowhere around the second guy, and they scored four runs there and we put three of them on passes.”

Kennedy then came home on a double by Gibson Booker before Hicks got a final out to end the game.

“You are going to have to fight tooth and nail if you want to get on base,” Massey said of his relievers. “That has to be your mentality. I’m going to be a bulldog right there.”

Ellsworth paced Bernie with a pair of hits to go with his one run, one RBI, and one walk, while Newton (one hit, one run, one RBI, one walk), Massey (one run, one walk), Hicks (one run, one hit), Stanfield (one hit, one run, one RBI, one walk), and Robinette (one hit, one run, one RBI) also contributed.

Neely had two hits and a run to lead Dexter, while Alford (one run), Young (one RBI, one walk), Kennedy (one hit, one run, two RBI), Beau Carrier (one hit, two walks), Booker (one hit, one RBI), Nichols (one walk), Jelinek (one walk), and Menley (one run) were productive.

Howard pitched two innings and allowed just two hits and one earned run, while Carrier worked two innings of relief and struck out four Bernie batters.

“The boys are playing extremely well,” Edwards said. “This is the culture that we are building, and they are working together.”

Dexter will visit Cape Central at 3 p.m. on Saturday, while Bernie will travel to Advance (with Zalma) on Monday at 4:30 p.m.