Raiders squander chances in 2-1 defeat

VICKERY — Lakota had chances.The Raiders didn't have a baserunner until the fourth inning, but opportunities were there for the taking.Lakota didn't get the timely hit it needed, falling 2-1 to Margaretta in non-league action Thursday at Field of Dreams in Vickery."Our biggest takeaway is we're going to play pretty good defense," Lakota coach Aaron Bomer said. "We put the ball in play. With our guys, I think we have a lot of optimism. I think we can play with anybody. We have good pitching. We just have to get our bats rolling. We're starting to see that increase. A lot of confidence from today."Almost a week into the season, the Raiders (0-1) took the opportunity to play at the old-school field near Castalia. Practicing indoors gets repetitive and the chance to face someone other than themselves was for the taking."I'm on spring break all week and I was at our field at 10 a.m. trying to pump water off the field," Bomer said of Thursday morning. "I thought we'd get it close to ready to play, but when they gave us this option to play, I said let's go. We were definitely itching because we might not be able to play Friday and we're probably not playing Saturday."We definitely needed to get one in."The game was win No. 500 for Margaretta coach Ray Neill, who now sits with a career record of 500-189. He coached 21 seasons at Perkins and is now in his fifth season on the field for the Polar Bears (1-2)."It means I've been coaching for a while and that means I've got a woman at home that lets me go play a game that I love tremendously and with a passion," Neill said of his wife, Debbie. "I think about that first — that she allows me to do this first."Emmett Leibengood delivered two big two-out hits for Margaretta, just a few days after the Polar Bears scored one run on four hits in 14 innings in a doubleheader loss to Mohawk.In the second inning, Mason Kromer doubled and moved to third on a groundout. After Lakota pitcher Brady Kern induced a popout on the infield, Leibengood roped a single up the middle to put Margaretta up 1-0.With Brayden Windau mowing down the Raiders on the mound, the Polar Bears got what proved to be a key insurance run in the fourth.Kromer singled to start the frame, moving to second on a sacrifice bunt by Memphis McKenzie. After another popout, Leibengood laced a single into left. That allowed Kromer to motor around and score, putting Margaretta up 2-0.That almost seemed like enough for Windau. He retired the first 11 Lakota hitters including striking out the side in the third inning. The Raiders finally got a hit when a sky-high ball hit by Grant Bomer fell between three Margaretta defenders for a double.Windau then walked Jack Widman, but got a flyout to end the frame.Margaretta played solid defense behind Windau, too. A.J. Gosche smacked a ball to lead off the fifth. Zach Gray fielded the ball and fired into the cutoff man, who nailed Gosche at third.That wasn't Gray's best play on defense. Bomer tattooed a ball in the first inning, but Gray went full speed and laid out for the catch for the Polar Bears."Later in the game, we put the ball in play and they made some great plays," coach Bomer said. "Grant hit a blast to center field and their center fielder ran it down. We were thinking triple and he made a heck of a catch. Their defense did a nice job of making plays."Lakota did get on the board in the sixth inning. With one out, Graham Harmon walked before Jacob Hines reached on an infield single. That brought on Kromer in relief, who gave up an infield single to load the bases.Widman tallied a sacrifice fly to score a run, but Kromer induced a groundout to escape further damage.Kromer pitched a scoreless seventh inning. Gosche reached on an error, but was tagged out trying to steal second on a pitch where Kromer struck out Kern.Windau allowed one run on two hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out eight."He was really good with his fastball and curveball. Both were good," Neill said. "When the kid got the base hit in the sixth inning, it was a 1-1 count and I had curveball in my mind. There's been times where Brayden, even when he's throwing well, he will hit somebody. I didn't want to hit the guy. I wanted them to earn their way on."Kern allowed just five hits and struck out four in six innings of work."Brady came in last year and pitched just a few games for us last year," Bomer said. "He started one game last year. He came in today and threw 78 pitches and kept them pretty under control. We had some errors in there that helped them out and put them in scoring position."Brady pitched an outstanding game."It is the beginning of what could be a very busy stretch for the Raiders, weather permitting."In a tight ball game, we were in a position to win," Bomer said. "So, a lot of confidence from here going forward just starting out. Good start. Our gauntlet is brutal. We have Gibsonburg (Friday), Eastwood on Saturday, Hopewell on Monday, Calvert on Wednesday and New Riegel on Friday. That's the top teams in the league that we're facing right away."