Baseball: Richmond deals Burlington Central a setback

The Burlington Central baseball team solved a Divison-I committed Richmond-Burton pitcher for the second time in three days, but the host Rockets weren't as satisfied with the final score of Thursday's rematch.

Two days after Central blasted Richmond 11-4 by touching Louisville-bound sophomore pitcher Jake Rosing for 6 runs (5 earned) on 10 hits in 3 innings, Central got to Wichita State signee Joe Dittmar for 4 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits and 5 walks in 3⅔ innings.

However, Dittmar, who struck out 9, was backed by an offense that scored at least a run in every inning but the third.

Central rallied from a 5-1 deficit to tie the game 6-6 in the fifth inning, but R-B junior outfielder Jake Kaufman singled home the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth and his teammates added 2 insurance runs in the seventh to cap a 9-6 victory.

"We know we're a good team," said Kaufman, who accounted for 3 of R-B's 12 hits and drove in 2 runs. "On Tuesday we felt like we didn't play well at all. We felt like we had to go out there and prove ourselves. It was good to see us hit."

R-B's victory kept Burlington Central from gaining too large a lead in the Big Northern East Race. Richmond improved to 5-4 overall, 2-1 in league play. First-place Central slipped to 6-6, 4-1.

"Tuesday was kind of an embarrassing loss for us," Richmond-Burton coach Mike Giese said. "They kicked us around pretty hard so it was important that we came back and found a way to win and got ourselves at least back in the hunt."

Despite the loss, Central coach Kyle Nelson was impressed by how his players clawed back from a 4-run deficit against a heralded pitcher, largely by being patient in the count.

However, Central's defense was a sore sport. Burlington committed 3 errors and missed a cutoff man

"It was the second time going against that good pitching and they were able to execute a game plan, so I'm real proud of them for that," Nelson said of his offense. "They just tried to do a little too much defensively. They tried to make every single play. You have to learn the plays you can make and the plays you can't. That's what you learn as you get older and you play at the varsity level for awhile."

R-B built a 3-0, first-inning lead, keyed by junior Mike Wojcik's 2-run single.

Central answered with a run in its half of the frame, but Richmond added single runs against starting pitcher Brandon Van Buren in the second and fourth innings to take a 5-1 lead.

Burlington, which had as many sophomores in the lineup as seniors (two), got back in the game with 3 runs in the fourth inning, highlighted by Johnathan Murphy's 2-run single.

Central tied the game 6-6 in the sixth inning, helped by 2 of Richmond's 3 errors, but was unable to score the go-ahead run from second base with two outs and eventually settled for a split of the two-game series.

"We'd love to have two (wins), of course, but they're a good team and they have some great pitchers," Murphy said. "Being the young team we are, I'm glad the guys came together and at least got one against them."

Trevor Anderson doubled, tripled and drove in a run for R-B, and Dittmar hit a solo home run to right-center field. Reliever Dakota Gibb picked up the victory with 1⅓ scoreless innings.

Central reliever Josh Rodriguez (0-1) took the loss. Craig Schuring and Clay Milas each had 2 hits.