Reinartz homers, drives in 6 as Rochester moves into first-place TRC

Next up: at Lewis Cass Wednesday for share of title

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Tanner Reinartz Drew Bowers James Gardner

Baseball

Rochester 13, Whitko 3 (5 innings): Tanner Reinartz went 3 for 3 with a single, double, homer, walk and six RBIs as the host Zebras routed Whitko on senior night at Bob Copeland Field Monday.

Reinartz’s double capped his day. It came off Crew Ebbinghouse and scored three runs to end the game.

Parker Casper singled and tripled and drove in two runs, and Brant Beck had a single and also had two RBIs. Drew Bowers had a pair of singles and an RBI, and freshman Linden Wilburn went 2 for 2 with three runs scored.

Carson Paulik pitched a six-hitter with two walks and eight strikeouts. Paulik was pitching for the first time since a 6-2 loss at Northwestern Wednesday. He did not play against Logansport Thursday and in games against Twin Lakes and Elwood at the Twin Lakes Invitational Saturday as he recuperated from a knee injury.

Paulik was also in the batting order for the first time in a week. He went 0 for 3.

Rochester improved to 18-5 overall and 6-2 in the Three Rivers Conference. Whitko fell to 11-12, 3-5.

The Zebras got some equally good news from Howard County Monday when Peru scored nine runs in the fifth inning and went on to beat Northwestern 10-6. That moved Rochester back into a first-place tie in the TRC, and Maconaquah won 5-0 over Northfield to make it a three-way tie.

That means that Rochester will share the TRC title if they win their conference finale at Lewis Cass Wednesday. The winner of the Northwestern-Maconaquah game in Bunker Hill Wednesday is also guaranteed a share of the TRC title. If Rochester loses to Lewis Cass, the Northwestern-Maconaquah winner takes the conference outright.

Reinartz also missed the Twin Lakes and Elwood games due to illness Saturday, but in his first at-bat since facing Logansport Thursday, he parked a two-run homer off Whitko starter Daton Day in the first.

Bowers’ RBI single in the second made it 3-0, but the first four batters reached in the top of the third off Paulik. Breyden Kirkdorffer drove in a run with an RBI walk. Paulik struck out Chandler Cox and Day, but Easton Grable grounded a game-tying two-run single to center to tie the game at 3.

But Reinartz answered with an RBI single to score Casper in the bottom of the third, and after Reinartz stole second, Beck singled to make it 5-3.

Casper’s two-run triple in the fourth made it 7-3, and two run-scoring wild pitches extended the lead to six.

Senior James Gardner walked to lead off the fifth. Conner Dunfee re-entered as a pinch-runner and later scored on an error. A walk to Casper preceded Reinartz’s walk-off double.

Rochester 13, Whitko 3 (5 innings)

Whitko 003 00 – 3 6 3

Rochester 212 44 – 13 10 0

WP – Carson Paulik (5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K)

LP – Daton Day (4 IP, 9 H, 9 R, 9 ER, 3 BB, 2 K)

2B – Easton Grable (WHI), Tanner Reinartz (RHS)

3B – Parker Casper (RHS)

HR – Tanner Reinartz (RHS)