SEYMOUR — Registering a 9-3 win over Edinburgh, Trinity Lutheran’s baseball team accomplished a pair of firsts on Friday.
On top of claiming the program’s inaugural victory of the 2019 season, Ben Kleber notched his first varsity win as the Cougars’ head coach.
Trinity (1-1) collected 14 hits and never trailed against the Lancers (0-2).
In the bottom of the first inning, Trent Shoemaker and Lawson Woods each drove in runs to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead. They added a run in the second on a second RBI-single by Shoemaker before tacking on three runs in the third. Goecker and Evan Hunt had RBIs, and the Cougars added a run on an Edinburgh error to go up 6-0.
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In the bottom of the fourth, Trinity pitcher Jack Marksberry singled to score Woods.
The Lancers scored a pair of runs in the fifth, thanks to a double from Bryce Burton and single by Ian Buchanan.
A single by Marksberry and double from Josh Rowe each pushed runs across home plate to give Trinity a 9-2 lead going into the final frame.
Edinburgh was able to add a score in the seventh. A hit by Ethan Armel brought in a run, but the Cougars’ Noah Voelker tossed a pair of strikeouts to close the game.
"I’m ecstatic with the way we played," Kleber said. "I wish we had a better mentality there toward the end, but we’re a young team. We need to learn how to close games, but we will get there."
Edinburgh coach Dennis Smith said he thought his team improved as the innings passed, but needs to take advantage when runners are on base.
"The biggest thing right now is being able to put some hits together," he said. "We’re young, and I thought as the game went on, we got better later in the game. We need a better approach coming into the game. Overall, I liked how we battled. We just need to be a little better early on. That’s going to come with more at bats."
Marksberry worked five innings on the mound in the win, recording 12 strikeouts and allowing five hits, three walks and two runs. Coltan Henderson went the distance for the Lancers, finishing with 12 strikeouts, 14 hits and two walks.
"I thought (Henderson) did well," Smith said. "The problem with us in the field is that we were in situations where we had two outs and leaked in a couple runs. Overall, he threw strikes. I was proud of how he stayed a competitor. He didn’t let his runs get to him."
Seven different Trinity players finished with a hit. The Lancers totaled seven hits in the game.
"We got our hands back and our foot down at the plate," Kleber said. "Against Seymour (an 8-1 loss Thursday), we were going up against some guys that threw harder, and we weren’t getting our foot down. We did a better job of that and attacking our pitches. We stayed in our zone and attacked the baseball."
