High school baseball: Split with Strongsville means Brunswick needs help for GCC crown

BRUNSWICK — After six hours of baseball that spanned four days between Brunswick and Strongsville, the biggest winner ended up being Medina. The Bees clinched a share of the Greater Cleveland Conference on Thursday when the Blue Devils scored twice in the 12th inning to win 3-1 in the completion of a game that was suspended by darkness after 11 innings on Monday, and the Mustangs came back to win the nightcap 12-2 in six innings. Brunswick (6-10-1, 6-3), which still has to play Euclid, and Strongsville (8-10, 4-3), which has two games remaining against Mentor and one vs. Euclid, still can earn a share of the GCC crown, but only if they win out and Medina loses its final GCC game Monday at home against Solon. The Bees beat the Comets 13-5 in their first meeting, but it took nine innings. "Baseball's a game where anything can happen," said Blue Devils leadoff hitter Nate Kazimore, who had an RBI single in the 12th to help his team start the day with a victory. "We'll see what happens when Solon plays Medina, but we have to focus on ourselves. It doesn't matter what other teams are doing." After rain postponed the completion of the Monday game on Tuesday and Wednesday, Brunswick wasted no time Thursday. Playing as the visitor because that game started in Strongsville, the Blue Devils immediately got a single from Zach Eyssen. Drake Blasco followed by reaching on the fifth of six Mustangs errors in the game, and Bryce Bogan bunted for a single while attempting to sacrifice, loading the bases. Zach Anderson reached on another error to score Eyssen and Kazimore's single plated Blasco, with Bogan being thrown out at home to help the Mustangs escape further damage. Brady Rice held Strongsville at bay in the bottom of the inning to pick up a save and make a winner of Anderson (1-0), who pitched three scoreless innings on Monday. "That's all I could think about," Kazimore said of waiting to complete the first game. "Whatever I was doing the last three days, all I could think about was playing Strongsville." The second game didn't go nearly as well for the Blue Devils. Each team scored once in the first inning, but the Mustangs blew open the game with a six-run fourth. Rice (1-4) stayed on the mound to start the second game and kept Brunswick in it for three innings but ended up allowing six earned runs in 3 1/3 innings. The sophomore gave up six hits, walked three and struck out two. Senior Jack Gorecki also gave up six runs — five of them coming in the sixth — as the senior-laden Mustangs pounded 13 hits. "They're a good hitting team, but we could have hit some spots a little better," Brunswick catcher Bogan said. "We had two really bad innings." The highlight of Strongsville's six-run fourth was a 14-pitch walk by pinch hitter Ryan Gordon, who swung and missed twice to fall behind 0-2, then fouled off eight pitches before finally earning his base on balls. Strongsville also got three singles, a double, three RBIs and two runs scored from Wright State recruit and No. 4 hitter Gus Gregory in the second game, while leadoff man Brandon Lucek completed an outstanding two games against the Blue Devils. In 10 plate appearances, Lucek reached base nine times on four hits, four walks and an error, scored three times and stole five bases. He also threw a runner out at the plate from center field in each game and pitched three innings of scoreless relief in the opener. Justin Malloy (3-3), who pitched the 12th inning to get the loss in the opener, gave up one run in three innings to get the win in the nightcap, with Liam Shea adding 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to the two-thirds of an inning he provided Monday in the first game. Brunswick got just four hits in the second game and stranded 28 runners over the two contests, but Bogan had a big series with five hits and a walk. "It's a tough loss," he said after the nightcap, "but we've still got a chance. Plus, we have the tournament." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on Twitter. Brunswick 3, Strongsville 1 (12 inn.) BRUNSWICK 000 001 000 002 — 3 15 2 STRONGSVILLE 000 100 000 000 — 1 8 6 WP — Zach Anderson (1-0) 3 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits, 3 walks, 0 strikeouts. LP — Justin Malloy (2-3) inning, 2 runs, 1 earned, 3 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts. Save — Brady Rice inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, walk, strikeout. Brunswick (6-9-1, 6-2) — Drew Harvey 3 singles, hit by pitch; Bryce Bogan 3 singles, RBI; Nate Kazimore 2 singles, RBI; Aidan Hanlon 2 singles; Drake Blasco 2 walks, Zach Anderson 2 singles. Strongsville (7-10, 3-3) — Brandon Lucek 2 singles, 3 walks, 4 stolen bases; Mitch Szymczak triple, single, 2 walks, run. Strongsville 12, Brunswick 2 (6 inn.) STRONGSVILLE 100 605 — 12 13 0 BRUNSWICK 100 100 — 3 4 1 WP — Malloy (3-3) 3 innings, run, earned run, 3 hits, 2 walks, hit by pitch, 4 strikeouts. LP — Rice (1-4) 3 1/3 innings, 6 runs, 6 earned, 6 hits, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts. Strongsville (8-10, 4-3) — Gus Gregory 3 singles, double, 3 RBIs, 2 runs; Lucek 2 singles, 3 runs, stolen base; Nathan Kowalski 2 singles, double, 2 runs; Szymczak double; Anthony Gentile double, RBI, 2 runs, stolen base; Zak Kakos 2 walks, 2 runs. Brunswick (6-10-1, 6-3) — Bogan 2 singles, walk, run; Kazimore 2 walks, run; Harvey 2 hit by pitches; Zach Eyssen 2 walks.