DeVos and Weimer Throw CGs, Houston Hits Grand Slam, and Arkey Slams the Door Shut on Terra State

April 2, 2022 – – The Lorain County Community College baseball team picked up vital wins this weekend against regional opponent Terra State Community College, going 3-1 in the series which culminated in a nail-biting comeback win in the finale against the Titans, 7-6.

LCCC split with Terra on Friday winning game one of the series, 13-8, thanks to a complete game thrown by Fred Weimer (Elyria, OH/Elyria HS).  Weimer struck out 8 batters in seven innings.  LCCC got down early, trailing by five runs after the third.  However, the Commodores turned up the offense scoring nine runs in the fourth and fifth innings capped off by a grand slam by Rocky Houston (Grafton, OH/Keystone HS) in the sixth.  Houston went 2-for-4 at the plate, scoring twice and driving in five runs.  Tyler Rose (Columbia Station, OH/Midview HS) and Clayton Fields (Parma, OH/Normandy HS) also logged multi-hit games for the Commodores, each driving in three runs.

After dropping the second game of the series 12-1 on Friday, LCCC came out in game one on Saturday scoring six in the first three frames to give Cody DeVos (Bay Village, OH/Bay HS) room to work as he cruised to a complete game with 10 strikeouts and allowing one earned run. 

Bryce Francyk (Brunswick, OH/Brunswick HS) homered in his first at bat of the game scoring Houston who reached on an error.  Houston was responsible for three runs in the third inning when he doubled down the left field line with the bases loaded to give LCCC a 6-0 lead.

Game two on Saturday was a back and forth affair that saw the Commodores bring a runner home in every inning except the first.  Houston started the game on the mound and went five innings pitched with five strikeouts. After trailing in both games all afternoon, Terra State finally took the lead in the sixth inning with three runs scored.

Trailing by a run in the bottom of the sixth, Sam Mullenax (Middleburg Hts, OH/ Berea-Midpark HS) led the inning off with a walk and advanced to second on a passed ball.  Nick Werth (Vermilion, OH/Vermilion HS) then laid down a bunt and reached base safely while Mullenax raced around third and scored the tying run. As Mullenax scored the tying run, Werth advanced to second and then stole third to set up Francyk, who returned to play after suffering a knee injury in the first game, for the sacrifice fly to shallow right-center to bring Werth home and give the Commodores the lead.

Anthony Arkey (Pictured, Avon Lake, OH/Avon Lake HS) came on in relief in the sixth inning for the Commodores and struck out the side in the seventh with the tying run at first base to close out the series.  Arkey struck out four batters and only allowed a pair of hits in two innings of work.

The Commodores will be back in Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) play against the Edison State Chargers for two doubleheaders next weekend.  First doubleheader will be played at Sports Force Park on Friday with the second happening at Edison State on Saturday.  Both doubleheaders begin at 1p.m.