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Seuferer, Elliott collect 3 hits each
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Rochester sophomore catcher Jake Seuferer wears turquoise blue socks with yellow ducks on them for good luck, and with the Zebras undefeated through eight games, it’s one superstition that’s not going to change any time soon.
But good luck does not substitute for hard work.
One hour before the first pitch against Logansport on April 26, Seuferer was in the batting cage adjacent to Bob Copeland Field. He was taking swings while assistant coach Joey Rock fed him pitches.
The work paid off against the Berries. Seuferer came in with only two hits on the season, but he went 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles, Evan Elliott added three hits, and Hunter Campbell scored the go-ahead run on a steal of home in Rochester’s 12-7 win.
Ethan Medina added two hits and an RBI, and Tarick McGlothin had a hit, an RBI and scored twice as Rochester scored in double figures for the fifth straight game.
Logansport also committed 11 errors, and that led to five unearned runs. That included five errors in Rochester’s four-run second inning alone. It got to the point that Logansport coach Dan Frye benched his starting third baseman.
Rochester improved to 9-0. Logansport fell to 9-6. The win was Rochester’s first against Logansport since Cory Good became the Zebra coach in the spring of 2015.
“We put the pressure on them,” Good said. “We talk about putting pressure on the defense, and we did that tonight and put them on their heels. Same thing we’ve seen, that snowball effect takes place, and mistakes just start compounding. I thought we took great advantage of that tonight. Those are the things we’ve got to do to beat good teams like Logansport.”
Rochester trailed 3-2 going into the bottom of the second before Seuferer clobbered a double down the left field line on Kaiden Lucero’s first pitch of the inning. Gavin Young entered as a courtesy runner.
Hunter Campbell then struck out swinging on a pitch in the dirt, but the throw to get him at first base was wild for an error, and Young scored to tie the game. Campbell then stole second.
One out later, McGlothin laid down a sacrifice bunt and reached when the third baseman booted it for an error. Campbell moved to third.
McGlothin then took off and stole second. The shortstop intercepted the catcher’s throw and threw home to try and get Campbell at the plate, but the throw was wild for an error to allow McGlothin to reach third.
Medina doubled down the left field line to score McGlothin and make it 5-3.
Medina then stole third, and when the throw to try and get him at third went into left field for the fourth error of the inning, Medina came in to score and make it 6-3.
Reinartz reached on the fifth error of the inning, but that didn’t cost Logansport, and they would score on a John Scott RBI single to make it 6-4 in the third.
The Berry defensive issues and Seuferer returned in the bottom half. After Elliott singled and Brayden Zink was hit by a pitch, Elliott took third on a wild pitch, and when the throw to try and get him at third sailed into left field for an error, Elliott scored to make it 7-4.
Seuferer then singled to left, and when the charging left fielder misplayed the ball for an error, Zink scored from third to make it 8-4, and Seuferer took second.
The pull-conscious Seuferer said timing has been the key. He smiled and said that if he hits the ball to the right side of the diamond that it’s probably a check swing.
During his pregame session with Rock, he told him to mix up the pitches, so he could adjust his timing.
“It’s rare if I go the other way. … I’m just so early,” Seuferer said. “That was my problem last year. That is my problem this year. I had to change my stance and change my load. … It’s a timing thing. I’ve always hit the ball well. It’s just timing. Timing, timing, timing.”
McGlothin’s RBI single to left made it 9-4.
They scored another run in the fourth when Reinartz scored on an errant pick off throw by the pitcher that wound up in center field.
Seuferer led off the fifth with a first-pitch double, and Campbell walked. When ball four was a wild pitch, courtesy runner Young took third. Colton Ferverda’s sacrifice bunt moved Campbell to second with Young holding.
McGlothin then grounded out to the pitcher. Campbell went two-thirds of the way down the line to third, and when the first baseman’s throw sailed into left field for another error, Young scored.
And when Medina’s grounder back to the pitcher was booted for another error, Campbell scored to make it 12-7.
Elliott pitched the first three innings, allowing six hits and two earned runs. He walked four and fanned four. Campbell allowed three runs over two innings while walking one and striking out two. Reinartz finished with two scoreless innings. He walked one and struck out three.
But the story wasn’t the pitchers but the guy to whom they were throwing.
“He’s been ready to go right out of the gate and itching to get at-bats,” Good said of Seuferer. “You know, when your time’s called on, you’ve got to be ready, and he was ready tonight.”
Rochester 12, Logansport 7
Logansport 031 120 0 – 7 12 11
Rochester 243 120 X – 12 10 2
WP – Evan Elliott (3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K)
LP – Kaiden Lucero (3 IP, 6 H, 9 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 7 K)
2B – Jon Maloy (LOG), John Scott (LOG), Isaac Russell (LOG), Jake Seuferer 2 (RHS), Ethan Medina (RHS)
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