SECTION IV BASEBALL: ERRORS PROVE COSTLY IN TIOGA'S 8-4 LOSS AT LANSING IN CLASS C QUARTERS (21 PHOTOS) (2022-05-23)

Valley Sports Report
LANSING — Tioga banged out eight hits against Lansing ace Zach Sperger, but four errors proved costly in an 8-4 setback here Monday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the Section IV, Class C baseball playoffs.

“It was a great game tonight against their best pitcher,” said Tioga coach Kevin Evanek. “We hit the ball well, but made several errors in the field that cost us some runs.

“Im proud of our guys because they never gave up, and fought till the end,” added Evanek. “Congrats to Lansing on a hard-fought win.”

Sperger, who has signed to play at D-I UMass-Lowell, led off the bottom of the first inning with a triple, and scored on a sacrifice fly to give the Bobcats an early 1-0 lead.

With one out in the top of the third inning, freshman Shea Bailey lined a single to right field. After a walk to senior Casey Stoughton, both runners moved up a base on a groundout off the bat of sophomore Drew Macumber, and scored on a two-run single by sophomore Ethan Perry to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.

Senior Cobe Whitmore followed with a ground ball single to right field, but Sperger avoided any further damage.

Lansing rapped out three singles in the home half of the inning, and benefitted from a pair of Tioga errors and a wild pitch to plate four runs to take a 5-2 lead.

Stoughton led off the top of the fifth inning with a double, and scored on a one-out groundout off the bat of Perry to close the gap to 5-3.

Lansing answered quickly with three runs in the bottom of the inning to stretch its advantage to 8-3.

Tioga threatened a big inning in the top of the sixth when junior Max Dydynski was hit by a pitch, and seniors Josh Reis and Logan Roberts stroked consecutive singles to load the bases with one out.

Bailey drove in a run with a fielder’s choice groundout to trim the deficit to 8-4. After Bailey stole second, Sperger induced a fly ball to center field to limit the damage.

Sperger pitched around a two-out double by Whitmore in the top of the seventh inning, and closed out the complete-game win.

Whitmore doubled and singled, and Reis rapped a pair of singles to account for half of Tioga’s eight hits, while Perry singled and had three RBI, and Bailey singled, scored one run, and knocked in one run.

Stoughton doubled and scored two runs for the Tigers, while Roberts singled, and Dydynski scored one run.

Whitmore was tagged with the loss, allowing five runs — one earned — on five hits, while striking out one and walking one in 3 1/3 innings.

Stoughton closed out the game, allowing three runs — two earned — on three hits, with one strikeout and three walks in 2 2/3 innings.

Sperger earned the win, allowing four runs on eight hits, while striking out four and walking three.

The Tigers wrap up the season at 12-7, with an IAC overall Small School championship.

“We had a good season,” said Evanek. “I’ve said all season that we have a great senior group.

“They are fun to be around, fun to coach and are excellent leaders on and off the field,” added Evanek. “Some of them I coached in football, as well as baseball. I’ll miss them all for sure.”

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IN PHOTO: Tioga’s Casey Stoughton. … PHOTOS BY MATT PATTON.