Ramsey overcomes Ks to take third place

VANDALIA – Led by 13 strikeouts from senior ace Tristan Wesselman, Ramsey overcame 14 strikeouts by its offense to take third place in the Egyptian-Illini Conference Tournament.

Photo by Andrew Harner

The Ramsey Rams finished third in the Egyptian-Illini Conference, with a 4-1 win against Beecher City/Cowden-Herrick. In the front row, from left, are: Waylon Davis, Tyler Wilson, Dalton Mercer, Devon Mercer and Brady Black. In the back row are: assistant coach Matt Belusko, Tommy Luttrell, Adam Casey, Tristan Wesselman, Michael Camez, Tylor Knisley and head coach Tony Kreke. Not pictured is Brady Reiss.

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Photo by Andrew Harner

Senior Tristan Wesselman pitches during his 13-strikeout performance in the third-place game.

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Beecher City/Cowden-Herrick left-hander Jacob Kenter struck out 14 Rams in last Thursday’s game, but allowed five hits to give fourth-seeded Ramsey some scoring chances in its upset 4-1 win against the No. 3 seed.

And with the victory came the first baseball trophy that Ramsey has won in several years.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a baseball trophy in Ramsey,” said coach Tony Kreke. “I told the boys, ‘Next year, let’s try to get the big one.’”

Wesselman earned his third straight win, tossing all seven innings and sending 13 down on strikes, allowing the only run on a two-out single in the first inning.

He had beaten Mulberry Grove on 110 pitches in the tournament’s play-in game just three days before facing BCCH.

“He knew what he had to do,” Kreke said. “Finally, it has finally clicked for him, and he knows that to be a leader on this team, he has to pitch.

“It seemed like he was throwing the ball harder tonight than he ever has,” he said. “If the short rest works, we’ll keep doing that.”

He helped his own cause with two hits and a run scored, drawing a walk and advancing on two wild pitches before scoring on freshman Brady Black’s one-out single in the top of the first.

Senior Tylor Knisley led off the inning with a triple and scored on a wild pitch.

“It’s always huge (scoring first),” Kreke said. “I don’t like being the away team, but it’s a benefit to us, because any time our leadoff guy can get on base, he can turn a walk or a single into a double or a triple after just a couple of pitches.”

The Rams (3-10) tacked on a run in the third after Dalton Mercer and Wesselman singled, and Black brought home a run by reaching on an error. Black later scored in the fifth on a fielder’s choice by Adam Casey.

Otherwise, there was little offense, as Kenter stifled the Rams with at least two strikeouts in all but two innings and twice striking out four batters in a row.

“I don’t have an answer for him,” Kreke said. “He is creative up there, but doesn’t throw many secondary pitches, so we have to go back to the drawing board on him.

“We told our guys not to wait for the pitcher to eat them up,” he said. “We had 14 strikeouts, but we did enough to get third place.”

Ramsey 4
BCCH 1
R: 2-0-1-0-1-0-0—4-5-1
B: 1-0-0-0-0-0-0—1-3-2
WP: Wesselman; 7 IP, 13 K
LP: Kenter; 7 IP, 14 K
Rams: Wesselman, 2-for-3, run, BB; Black, 1-for-3, RBI, run, 2 SB; Knnisley, 1-for-3, 3B, run; Da. Mercer, 1-for-4, run; Casey, RBI; Waylon Davis, BB; Devon Mercer, BB.
Record: 3-10