Playing to a 16-15 slug fest that took three hours to complete during the Four Rivers Baseball Classic, Tyler Ahring’s Owensville Dutchmen baseball team looked to keep St. Clair’s run total lower last Wednesday at Memorial Field in the Four Rivers Conference (FRC) match up between the two teams.

Limiting St. Clair’s scoring to two runs in the top of the third inning, Owensville put up four runs in the bottom of the second, three in the fourth and five in the fifth helping them to a 12-2 mercy rule victory over the visiting Bulldogs in five innings.

Getting the start on the pitching mound for the Dutchmen, Alberto Del Pino Ortiz pitched around a walk and a single in the top of the first inning keeping St. Clair off the scoreboard.

Pitching around a two-out walk in the top of the second inning, Ortiz saw his Dutchmen offense give him all the run support he would need.

Brady Smith led the inning off reaching on an error before stealing second. Following a Cody Linders walk, Ortiz got a chance to help his cause with two runners on base and only one out.

Lifting the first pitch he saw into the right-center field gap, the Dutchmen hurler drove in Smith and Linders giving OHS an early 2-0 lead.

Keeping the line moving, Tyler Heidbrink drove in Ortiz with a RBI single pushing the Dutchmen early lead to 3-0.

Getting back to the top of the line up, Bryor Bogle recorder a fielder’s choice RBI scoring Heidbrink while Dixon was retired at second.

Moving to the top of the third inning, Ortiz looked to keep his bid for a shutout intact.

Landen Roberts led the inning off for St. Clair with a double before a Michael Hughes RBI double scored Roberts getting the Bulldogs on the scoreboard.

A Sam Oermann RBI single allowing Hughes to score cut the Owensville lead to 4-2 heading to the bottom of the third inning.

Unable to turn a one-out Drew Baumbach double into a run, Owensville went into the fourth inning with a 4-2 lead.

Seeing Ortiz strike out the side in the top of the fourth, Ahring’s Dutchmen offense looked to get their four-run lead back in the bottom half of the fourth inning.

Already with a walk and a run scored in the game, Linders led off the bottom of the fourth with a single before stealing second and scoring on a Heidbrink RBI single.

Following a Dixon single and a Bogle ground out, Trevor Abernathy drove in Heidbrink and Dixon on a two-RBI single through the left side of the infield bumping Owensville’s lead to 7-2 over St. Clair after four innings.

Reaching 86 pitches through one out in the top of the fifth inning, Ortiz gave way to Linders who needed just seven pitches to get the last two St. Clair outs.

Four walks and three hits in the bottom of the fifth inning from the Dutchmen helped them improve their overall record to 4-3 including a 4-0 mark at Memorial Field.

OHS will host Pacific on Monday, April 15 in the annual Military Appreciation Day baseball game at Memorial Field.