By Dan Machovina
PBR Ohio Assistant Director

BEACHWOOD, OHIO – Coming in with unblemished 8-0 conference records, No. 5 (DIII) Independence traveled to No. 20 (DIII) Beachwood as the two teams battled for a share of the Chagrin Valley Conference Metro Division Championship.

Beachwood sent their ace senior left-handed pitcher Todd Goldberg, who came into the game with a 4-0 record and a 1.40 ERA, to square off against junior right-handed pitcher Mike Martin.

The game got off to a lightning fast start when Independence took advantage of timely hitting coupled with uncharacteristic walks by Goldberg. In total, Independence tacked on six runs in the top of the first.

Beachwood countered as they hit through the order in the bottom half taking advantage of two Independence errors, a single, and a couple of infield hits to cut the Independence lead in half making it 6-3.

Independence quickly responded.

After a walk and stolen base from senior shortstop JP Sorma, Martin would singled up the middle driving in another run making it 7-3 in favor of Independence.

But, Beachwood kept fighting.

Once again, they hit through their entire lineup. After five base hits, Independence manufactured four runs, typing the game at seven runs a piece heading into the third inning.

While Independence went silent in the top of the third inning, Beachwood continued to make the most of their opportunities. With eight hitters coming to the plate, Independence managed three walks and a hit batter. With two more runs on the board, Beachwood went up 9-7 and forced Independence to make a call to the bullpen in the process as Martin was relieved on the mound

Independence junior second baseman Brett Teare started the fourth inning with a double. He was then plated later in the inning after a sacrifice fly, trimming the Beachwood lead only by one to 9-8.

In this back and forth battle, Independence established control of the game in the top half of the six as they took advantage of the Beachwood bullpen.

With the Beachwood defense unprepared, Independence managed three consecutive infield bunt singles. This helped put together a six run offensive outburst from Independence making it a 15-8 ball game.

The six run sixth inning from Independence proved to be too big of a blow as they won by a final score of 16-9.

The win gives Independence at least a share of the conference championship and a chance to win it outright if they can beat Beachwood at home tomorrow.

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