PLYMOUTH – It was a game of unlikely heroes for Plymouth’s Pilgrims as they came away with a walk off 4-3 win over Logansport at Bill Nixon Field on Thursday night.
One unlikely hero was Grant Stukenborg who was nothing short of masterful in taking the win on the mound. Stukenborg threw just 68 pitches in going the distance, striking out four and walking just one. Logansport only put Stukenborg in trouble in the third when five straight hits plated the only three runs of the night. From there Stukenborg didn’t surrender another hit.
“His command of his fastball was outstanding and he couldn’t find his curve ball early,” said Plymouth head coach Ryan Wolfe. “When they put that three spot up on him he was struggling to get his curve ball over for a strike. We talked to him about having to find some other pitches and he found it. He was able to throw it early in counts so they couldn’t sit on his fastball. That’s the kind of kid he is.
“For Grant Stukenborg to go out there and throw like – he was confident going in, we were confident in him he was around the plate all night, guys making plays behind him and he gave us a chance to win.”
In the bottom of the seventh designated hitter George Stults drew a walk, and pinch runner Benji Nixon stole second setting up the heroics of another unlikely character. Freshman shortstop Cam Dennie came to the plate and calmly stroked the game winning single to center with Nixon sliding around the tag.
“It’s baseball the first ball in the game is hit to him (Dennie) and he’s at the plate in a big spot when we need a hit,” said Wolfe. “I was pretty proud of him to get that hit at the end.”
Plymouth jumped ahead early as Logansport starter Riley Hershberger struggled with his command. A pair of two out walks in the first after opening the game with two strikeouts led to the first Plymouth run.
Two more came across in the second when the Pilgrims stole three bases and took advantage of a sacrifice fly by Caleb Mikesell and a ground out RBI by Braydon Davidson to push across two more. Plymouth wouldn’t get another hit until Dennie’s game winner in the seventh.
“I’m so proud of the kids,” said Wolfe. “That’s just the kind of a game we’re going to play at the end of the year. We have a few miscues but we had guys like Braydon (Davidson) hitting the ball on the ground two times to score runs. Those are what we call the ‘we’ at bats, give up yourself to help us score a run.”
The Pilgrims run their record to 8-4 with a crucial NLC match up with NorthWood at Bill Nixon Field on Friday night. Logansport is now 7-7.
Linescore
Logansport 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 3-6-2
Plymouth 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 4-4-2
WP – Grant Stukenborg. LP – Riley Hershberger. 2B – Jacob Conrad (L).
