HUBER HEIGHTS — James Jessee and the Fairborn Skyhawks got out of several jams for the first five innings Monday night against Wayne.
The Warriors made sure Fairborn’s luck ran dry in the sixth, blowing up for a six-run, two-out rally to beat the Skyhawks 7-2 in a Greater Western Ohio Conference crossover matchup.
Travis Hall hit a two-run homer and Caleb Elkins and Chase Orndorff each hit two-RBI doubles in Wayne’s six-run sixth, which brought the Warriors back from a 2-1 deficit.
The loss was especially painful for the Skyhawks because they stranded eight and made three base-running blunders that resulted in momentum-killing outs. Head coach Rob Smith said Fairborn runners had been picked off five times in two games.
“It comes down to us not being baseball smart,” said Rob Smith. “We have a chance to separate the game if we run the bases correctly. It’s the little things like that that separate the good baseball teams from the average baseball teams.”
The lefty junior Jessee kept the Warriors bats cool for five-plus innings, giving up just one run on five hits through the first five innings while helping keep eight Wayne runners stranded. He finished with seven strikeouts and gave up eight hits — three in the sixth on a two-out Wayne rally — before he was pulled in favor of Nick Stephens.
“It’s funny because we’ve faced some really good teams and we’ve hit really well, but [Jessee] is a tough little lefthander and he stifled us for almost six innings,” said Wayne coach Jason Stringfield.”
The Warriors exploded in the sixth in part because Wayne coach Jason Stringfield pulled all but one of four lefties in his lineup in favor of right-handed batters.
“It gave us better matchups,” Wayne coach Jason Stringfield said.
Josh Isabell was credited with the win for the Warriors (2-2) through two innings of work. Kris Young got the start for Wayne; he gave up five hits.
Fairborn’s first run was scored in the first on a RBI single from Jessee that scored Bronson Marlett. Zac Gillespie had the other RBI on a grounder that knocked in Alex Johnson.
Leading 2-1 in the sixth, Fairborn freshman Jaycen Newsome was picked off on a trick play from Wayne in which Isabell and the Wayne defense faked an errant throw into the outfield. Newsome attempted to take third, where he was picked off.
“That was a momentum changer,” Smith said.
Jessee finished with two hits and AJ Johnson, Mark Swope and Alex Johnson each had a hit for Fairborn.
Wayne’s first run came in the bottom of the first on a sacrifice fly from Tyler Moore.
