Colin Harris
Record-Courier staff writer
A Portage Trail Conference County Division title showdown with the Woodridge Bulldogs may be in their near future, but Thursday afternoon offered a different challenge as the Waterloo Vikings traveled to face the Ravenna Ravens.
The Vikings survived a slow start " and early deficit "to storm back over the game's final four innings to claim a 10-4 Portage Trail Conference cross-division victory.
The win improves Waterloo's overall season mark to 18-3, while the Ravens dropped to 7-12 on the year.
Third baseman Kyle Frame and first baseman Jon Pusateri each contributed two RBIs in the winning effort, while pitcher Joey Adelman collected the victory in relief of starter Dylan Snellbaker, who left the contest at the start of the fourth inning.
Ravenna got on the scoreboard first in the third inning.
After a single by first baseman Mike Hull to load the bases, two walks drawn by Ravenna's Corey Trusso and Mike Petrone allowed two runs to come in and give the Ravens a 2-0 lead.
Waterloo starting pitcher Dylan Snellbaker then closed out the inning with a strike out.
"Dylan has pitched well for us all year long," Waterloo head coach Jim Conley said. "We wanted him to finish out the third inning to keep his confidence at a good level, which he was able to do for us."
The hot-hitting Vikings were able to pick their starter up in the fourth inning when Frame singled to jumpstart Waterloo.
Frame's single was followed by singles from shortstop Dylan Wartluft and right fielder Kurt Hamilton, bringing Frame home to get on the board.
One batter later, Pusateri sent a single into the outfield to bring home two more runs and gave Waterloo its 3-2 lead.
"To say what kind of team we have, I was sweating over how slow we came out today, but our players never worried about it," Conley said. "They're just a confident group of players, and they knew that they would be able to find their rhythm, even though (Ravenna starting pitcher Cory) Fosnight was throwing a good game for Ravenna."
While Ravenna tied the game in the fourth inning " thanks to an RBI double down the left-field line by Tony Meduri " the Vikings' offense never looked back, scoring one run in the fifth, three runs in the sixth and an additional run in the seventh inning.
On the other end of the spectrum, three of Ravenna's four runs on the afternoon came as a result of walks as Snellbaker and Adelman combined to hold the Ravens to only one extra-base hit and six hits overall " a statistic not lost on Ravenna head coach Justin Mulheim.
"We just have struggled to put together a consistent string of hits all year long," Mulheim said. "Waterloo was able to get some hits together and place them well across the field, which is something we haven't been able to do. It's become a problem that has built as the season has gone along."