Rain delay doesn’t slow Scouts

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Xenia Scouts pitcher John Crawford pitches in a game against the undefeated Southern Ohio Copperheads, Thursday night at Grady’s Field.

The Scouts huddle around pitcher John Crawford in the top of the sixth inning, Thursday night at Grady’s Field in Xenia.

Rain came through and delayed the matchup between the Xenia Scouts and the Southern Ohio Copperheads, Thursday at Grady’s Field.

Xenia third baseman Kyle Carnahan makes a catch behind the dugout in a game against the undefeated Southern Ohio Copperheads, Thursday at Grady’s Field.

XENIA — Thursday night’s matchup at Grady’s Field between the Xenia Scouts and the Southern Ohio Copperheads was a Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League heavyweight battle in the making.

The Scouts came into the night 5-1 with a hot hitting streak. The Southern Ohio Copperheads were an undefeated 4-0 and stood in first place in the league.

Xenia got off to a hot start defensively, shutting down the Copperheads to get out of the top of the first inning with no hits and no runs.

Then the monsoon struck.

A burst of rain came through to delay the game for 20 minutes. Players passed the time by tossing a baseball from dugout to dugout. Just when the cups started getting stacked, the rain stopped and play resumed.

The rain didn’t seem to affect Xenia. The Scouts beat the undefeated Copperheads 6-1.

The Scouts scored a run in both the bottom of the first and second innings. Sinclair pitcher John Crawford helped keep Xenia ahead. He didn’t allow a hit from the Copperheads for the first three innings.

A big burst of scoring came for Xenia in its half of the sixth inning. Christian Binger started the inning with a double to left field. Zach Wylie then hit a single but it only advanced Binger to third. Miles Wright batted in the first run of the inning, hitting a single to score Binger. Levi Gilcrease then hit a line drive over the short stop to bring home Wylie and Wright. Washburn University’s Kyle Carnahan hit a ball towards the third base line and was thrown out, but he scored Gilcrease for the final Scouts run.

Southern Ohio (4-1) scored a single run in the top of the ninth, but the Scouts (6-1) kept it at that to move to first place in the league.

The Scouts now go to play the Copperheads on the road. They play at 7:30 p.m. today at Bob Wren Stadium in Athens. Xenia then goes to Cincinnati to play the Steam at 7:05 p.m. Saturday at Max McLeary Field before returning home Sunday to host the Steam at 4:05 p.m.

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