Standing 90 feet from home plate, Sam Schilling eyed the King City pitcher. He took his lead off of third base, then another step, then another. When the pitch skipped past the opposing catcher, Schilling bolted for home. In a game tied at 6-6 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Schilling’s run was decisive.
The Trenton High School baseball team defeated King City 7-6 on Monday at Burleigh Grimes Field, taking advantage of Wildkat pitchers who struggled with the strike zone all day.
King City pitchers issued 11 walks in the game and served up three wild pitches. The final one cost them a chance at extra innings.
“Sam, on third, got a good lead,” Trenton Head Coach Joel Hultman said. “We talk about it, but I’m not a guy who wants to tell them exactly what to do all the time. I want them to use their baseball instincts. So when Sam saw the ball in the dirt, he didn’t hesitate. He was safe by three feet.”
Trenton and King City traded runs early with the Bulldogs scoring a single run in the bottom of the first and second innings and King City answering each time with runs of their own in the top of the second and third frames. Trenton regained the lead in the fifth with another single run, but King City broke out in a big way in the sixth, plating three runs to take a 5-3 advantage.
Down to its final six outs, Trenton responded by tallying a three-run sixth of its own to again take the one-run advantage. When King City scored to tie the game in the top of the seventh, Trenton came to the plate needing one run to take the game.
Schilling and Quincy Griffin both reached to start the inning and the two advanced to third and second on a sacrifice fly. That set up Schilling’s dash home to win the game.
Trenton was outhit by King City in the game, 11-3, but the Bulldogs took advantage of the little things to reach their game-winning total of seven runs. In addition to the 11 free passes, Trenton put another runner on base when Tanner Lynch was hit by a pitch. The Bulldogs stole six bases and used multiple sacrifice bunts and flies to move runners.
R-T Photo/Seth Herrold
Brice Gibler singles during Trenton’s 7-6 victory over King City on Monday at Burleigh Grimes Field. Gibler finished the game one-for-four with two runs batted in.
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Lynch wound up being the winning pitcher, throwing the final one and two-thirds innings. He allowed a single run on one hit and one walk while striking out three. The win evened Lynch’s record at 1-1 on the year.
Trenton used both of its starting pitchers in the game as Schilling started and threw two innings and Chase Otto also fired two frames. Both pitchers threw just 55 pitches, however, meaning they will both be eligible for Thursday’s game against Braymer – assuming that game is not moved up to Wednesday to avoid weather.
The win moved Trenton to 2-3 overall on the season and 2-1 within the Grand River Conference. The two league wins ties Trenton for the most conference wins with St. Joseph Christian, which is 2-0 in league play and 4-0 overall.
Trenton will return to the diamond on Thursday, weather permitting, traveling to Braymer for a GRC contest. Trenton will be at home on Friday, playing host to North Harrison in a non-conference game. Both games are scheduled for a 5 p.m. first pitch.