Bellevue loses lead, falters against Ross

FREMONT — It came down to one missed catch. "We didn't do what we had to do to win a game," Bellevue coach Andy Dennings said. "Credit to them for doing what they did." In a dramatic finish, Bellevue fell to Fremont Ross 8-7 in non-conference play Monday at Alumni Fields. The Redmen (1-2) had the lead all the way until the bottom of the seventh inning. Breylen Garza smacked a two-run double to win the game for the Little Giants (2-2). That came after Will Estham and Robert Rich Jr. reached. It was the momentum that the Little Giants needed after falling to Maumee last week. "We just don't give up," Fremont Ross coach Derek Thiessen said. "It came down to our 21st out and the guys just kept fighting. Breylen Garza stepped up and smoked one into the fence." It didn't start that way though. After a scoreless first inning, Bellevue started putting runs on the board. With Cameron Joseph pitching for Fremont Ross, Tatum Gore reached on an error. Kaden Cramer then doubled to center, scoring Gore. Bellevue added a pair of runs later in the inning and led 3-0. The Redmen added a run in the third inning to go up 4-0. Fremont Ross got things going in the bottom half of the inning. With two outs, Joseph doubled on a fly ball to center. From there, Max Durnwald hit a double to right field, and Joseph took advantage to score. Durnwald scored on a wild pitch, cutting the deficit to 4-3. "Will (Eastham) hasn't caught all year and he did today," Thiessen said. "We moved Max Durnwald to pitching and he hit the strike zone, so it was a gutless effort for all of them. We moved Breylen (Garza) to second base, which was his first time playing that spot in his high school career. It was everyone doing everything that they could for the team." The Redmen scored three more runs between the fourth and fifth innings, going back up 7-3. Bellevue will have to pick itself up and move on as they face a tough Clyde team on Wednesday and Tiffin Columbian on Friday. "We played well enough defensively to do what we had to do, and our defense was fine." Dennings said. Bellevue 031 210 0 — 7 5 1Fremont Ross 003 001 4 — 8 6 2 WP: Durnwald. LP: Winke 2B: (B) Baptista, Cramer; (FR) Garza, Joseph. 3B: (FR) Durnwald