With sole possession of first place on the line, the No. 8-ranked Sherman Huskies used a complete-game effort by Brett Troutman and 10-hit offensive attack to inch past No. 10 Culver Tuesday in a Blue Mountain Conference baseball clash in Moro.
The Huskies led 5-2 through the first five innings, but the Bulldogs rallied for two unearned runs in the top of the sixth to make it a 5-4 score with the tying run at second base and no outs.
Troutman promptly retired the next three batters on a strikeout, a comebacker and another strikeout to keep Sherman ahead by one run.
Clinging to that one-run lead in the seventh frame, Troutman struck out the first two Culver batters on nine pitches, and then leadoff hitter, Tadd Anderson, reached safely on a single to left field.
Representing the winning run was Joe Russo, who had two hits and two runs scored in three previous at-bats against Troutman.
With the count at 2-2, the Sherman hurler induced a game-ending popup to second baseman Jace Troutman for the final out, giving the Huskies their ninth consecutive victory, seven in league play.
“We played a complete team game,” Sherman head coach Joe Justesen said. “After being down to start the game, we showed grit and toughness in coming back. With Jacob (Justesen) out with an illness, the kids stepped up and filled in and got things done.”
Brett Troutman allowed four runs, three earned, on eight hits with eight strikeouts and no walks in his 107-pitch performance.
Culver (10-5 overall, 6-1 league) scored two runs in the first, but Troutman retired 10 in a row at one point, until the fifth frame when he allowed a leadoff double to Jordan Bender.
He then struck out the next batter, and Sherman catcher Bradley Moe picked off Bender at second base for the second out.
Down 2-0 in the third, Sherman scored three third-inning runs on RBIs from Brett Troutman, Trey Homer and Wade Fields to jump ahead, 3-2.
Brett Troutman doubled in Treve Martin in the fourth, making it, 4-2.
Sherman (12-2, 7-0) extended its lead to 5-2, as Fields led off the fifth with a one-out triple and he later scored on a botched pickoff attempt.
Fields went 2 for 3 with a run and an RBI, Martin posted two hits and scored twice in four at-bats, Brett Troutman went 1 for 3 with a double, a walk, a run scored and two RBIs.
Moe was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored and both Patrick Ramos and Jacob Shandy had a hit apiece.
A No. 1 district seed is on the line, as Sherman travels to Culver for two games at 11 a.m. Saturday.
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