By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

Aurora is only 4-6 this season, but the Greenmen have shown a knack for recovering from early deficits and rallying to win games.

A prime example was their 9-4 victory April 16 at Cuyahoga Falls in which they trailed 4-0 after two innings.

“That was a tremendous comeback,” head coach Trent Dalton said. “We’ve gotten what I like to say ‘punched in the mouth first,’ but we’ve been able to just fight back, stick together and really just find a way to win. And that’s what we did against Cuyahoga Falls.”

Sophomore pitcher Johnny Slisz started, but was relieved by first-year senior Kyle Lancaster, who pitched two and two-thirds of an inning, yielding two hits while fanning three and walking just one.

“We brought in Kyle in a tough situation,” said Dalton, “but he was able to limit the runs and limit the damage from Cuyahoga Falls, which is a very good hitting team. He was able to keep us in the game.”

Sophomore Gabe Cooch pitched the final three hitless innings, striking out four and walking one.

Said the coach, “Gabe ended up sealing the deal for us.”

Cooch helped his own cause with a double, two singles and three runs. Seniors Jack Lang and Tommy Tartabini both doubled and singled. Lang had two RBI and two runs, while Tartabini knocked in a run and scored once.

The next day, on April 17, Aurora enjoyed a rare breather in a 14-4 rout at home over Beachwood in a game shortened to six innings due to the 10-run rule.

With two hits apiece were third baseman Cooch, catcher Lang, senior right fielder Jack Bonnet, junior shortstop Max Anzells and senior left fielder Ryan Dwyer. Cooch and Dwyer homered, and Cooch had four RBI.

“Our offensive production was fantastic,” Dalton said. “About the fifth, sixth or seventh inning against Cuyahoga Falls really carried over into the Beachwood game. Putting five on the board right off the jump in the first inning really got us going. That will hopefully get us in a nice groove here.”

On the mound, senior Tommy Hach started and went four innings, yielding a run and four hits while striking out four and walking two. Maddox Booth, Hach’s classmate, pitched the final two innings, giving up three runs, two hits while fanning a pair and walking one.

“Both Tommy and Maddox were fantastic,” said Dalton. “They’ve been a couple of go-to guys, a couple of go-to strike throwers, and that’s absolutely what they did. They came in pounding the zone early, let their defense help them out, and we were able to come out with a big win.”

Five days later, on April 22, the Greenmen lost at Medina Highland 7-6 in 10 innings in a back-and-forth affair.

Pitching were senior Alex Kaczmarek, Hach and senior Will Bodine. Kaczmarek gave up six runs, five hits and had a strikeout and four walks. Hach gave up a run and three hits while striking out two and walking three. Bodine fanned one and also had three walks. Seven players had a hit apiece, including a home run by senior Carson Smith.