Crusaders dig out of hole, top Spring Valley

Faith Lutheran’s baseball team dug itself into a deep hole Tuesday and appeared to be headed for its first Division I-A Sunset League loss of the season.

But the Crusaders relied on their ace before gathering some late magic.

Zack Trageton threw a six-hitter with 12 strikeouts, and teammate Derek Von Hake scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning as the host Crusaders rallied for a 5-4 win over Spring Valley.

Faith Lutheran (19-5, 11-0) has a two-game lead over the Grizzlies (16-7, 9-2) with three Sunset League games remaining.

“We were trailing 4-1 against their guy,” Faith Lutheran coach David Anderson said. “(Nick Rupp) threw well. But we grinded and made some things happen and had a couple of big hits. We didn’t give it up. … This was a playoff atmosphere. It’s where we’ve got to get. If we want to play in those games, we have to absorb this stuff. I like that we battled.”

Pinch hitter Jason Eary led off the seventh inning with a single and was subbed out for the speedier Von Hake.

Von Hake then reached second base on a passed ball and scored after Grizzlies catcher Jonathen Bakken misfired the ball into left field following a wild pitch by relief pitcher Jack Sellinger.

“Von Hake is the second-fastest guy that we’ve got on the roster,” Anderson said. “I needed that run. He’s fast enough that it’s not a play (at third base), but the catcher then throws it away because it (ricocheted off the backstop) so fast. If we have Eary running, he might be out or they’re probably not worried about it as much.”

Trageton, who threw 71 of his 98 pitches for strikes (72.4 percent), walked two and gave up two earned runs to keep the error-ridden Crusaders in the game. Spring Valley plated three runs in the third inning with the help of four errors to build a 4-1 lead, but Trageton never lost his composure.

Spring Valley also threatened in the sixth inning and had runners on first and third base with no outs. But Daniel Lasky gunned down Braxton Bruschke attemping to steal second base, and Trageton struck out the next two batters to end the inning.

Trageton also had a 1-2-3 seventh inning on just six pitches.

“This game was about Zack keeping us there. Holding us in it at that spot,” Anderson said. “His slider was the best pitch. They saw him earlier (this season), and they were ready for the fastball. But he felt comfortable throwing that curveball for a strike. And when that slider is working and the fastball is working, it just makes it tough.”

The Crusaders tied the game in the fifth inning on Brandon Davis’ RBI triple to right-center field.

Trageton went 2-for-3, and Sagan Gronauer doubled for Faith Lutheran.

Rupp gave up three earned runs over six innings and struck out nine for Spring Valley.

Shayne Watkins was 2-for-3 with a triple, and Jaxson Otis added a double and two runs for the Grizzlies.

Contact reporter Ashton Ferguson at aferguson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0430. Follow him on Twitter: @af_ferguson