Wind wreaks havoc in Crusaders' loss in baseball

There was only one constant during Saxony Lutheran's home game against Fredericktown on Wednesday afternoon.

It wasn't pitching, it wasn't hitting and it sure wasn't defense.

It was wind. A wind that proved to be unkind to both the Crusaders (2-1) and Blackcats (1-2).

In a game altered by strong winds on every pitch, Fredericktown held on to knock off Saxony 19-17.

"It was a tough day to pitch," Saxony coach Paul Sander said. "It was 35 mph wind gust out there. It was difficult to pitch, equally tough on both sides."

Saxony Lutheran's Spencer Sander drives the ball against Fredericktown during the second inning Wednesday.

Fredericktown coach Scott Davis added: "One of those days where kids are going to have a hard time with this wind. Pitches would start in the strike zone and not end up there. Both teams hit the ball well, but the wind made it difficult."

There was plenty of hitting in the early going and plenty of miscues in the field from both teams.

The Blackcats hopped on Crusaders starter Sam Breite early, striking for two runs in the first and chasing him with five more in the second.

But Saxony countered with big bats of its own.

The Crusaders batted around in the first three innings, tallying a combined nine hits and 12 runs.

Saxony Lutheran's Jon Winkler beats Fredericktown baserunner Rusty Allgier to first to double up Allgier during the second inning Wednesday. Check out a photo gallery from the game at semoball.com. (KRISTIN EBERTS)

They were aided by five Fredericktown errors, four coming in the third inning. The Blackcats finished with six errors.

Errors were a common theme for both teams.

"A lot were windblown errors," Sander said of his team's seven errors. "But that's no excuse. We had a lot of miscues -- ground balls going through our fielders into the outfield. We had to adapt out there and we didn't do a good job of adapting."

Sander was more pleased with his team's offensive performance.

"Spencer Sander has had an amazing start to the season," coach Sander said. "He had eight RBIs in our first two games and he had six here today. Another kid I was proud of was [Ryan] Sprandel. I moved him from the six spot to the four spot and he adapted well. He had four hits as well. And we had plenty of other guys who sprinkled hits in there as well."

Sander finished the day 4 for 5 with six RBIs and three runs scored, while Sprandel went 4 for 5 with four RBIs and two runs.

The Crusaders took a 12-11 lead heading into the top of the fourth inning. But it didn't last long.

Sprandel, who relieved Breite with one out in the second inning, was credited with two runs while Clay Roth was hit for three more runs to give Fredericktown a 16-12 lead.

"I told the kids they [Saxony] were going to score," Davis said. "We needed to keep adding runs. Our pitchers settled down and that inning was huge. It was a big momentum boost."

Saxony refused to fold, getting back in the game with timely hitting and Roth's pitching.

Roth, a sophomore, only allowed three runs, one earned, on two hits over the last three innings to give the Crusaders a chance.

"I just came in and threw strikes," Roth said. "I wanted to give my team a chance to get back in the game. We fought, just couldn't get it done."

Saxony entered the bottom of the seventh down 19-14 but put a serious scare in Fredericktown.

The Crusaders scored three runs to make it 19-17 before three straight Blackcats miscues loaded the bases for Jon Winkler.

But Fredericktown reliever Keith Jackson coaxed a ground ball to the third baseman, who threw out Winkler to end the threat.

"We battled," Sander said. "It would have been real easy to quit down 19-14, but there was no quitting out there. I was real proud they showed the resilience to hang in there."

Fredericktown 254 530 0 -- 19 15 6

Saxony 435 020 3 -- 17 15 7

WP -- Keith Jackson. LP -- Ryan Sprandel. HR -- Jacob Farmer (F). 2B -- Rusty Allgier (F), Austin Mickan (S), Sprandel (S), A.P. Lewandowski (F), Farmer (F), Bryant Barks (F), Clay Roth (S). Multiple hits -- Fredericktown; Lewandowski 2-5, Farmer 3-5, Allgier 2-4, Tyler Hagy 2-2, Barks 2-2; Saxony; Roth 2-5, Spencer Sander 4-5, Sprandel 4-4, Mickan 2-6, Jon Winkler 2-4.