On Saturday, the Copperheads had one of their greatest moments of the season, beating Lima 6-5 and getting to only a half game out of first place in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League’s South division.

On Sunday, the story for Southern Ohio (12-11) flipped, struggling to find their footing in the 18-4 loss to the Locos (14-8).

Thomas Zazzaro got the start and struggled early, giving up eight runs on 13 hits in four and a third innings before getting taken out due to pain in his arm.

According to Head Coach Austin Dunfee, there is not a lot known at this moment about the severity and timetable of Zazzaro’s injury.

Zazzaro joins the list of recent key injuries for Southern Ohio, as the team continues to fight for their playoff hopes with the season of a major contributor in the lineup and on the mound uncertain.

One of the lone bright spots for the team was the performance of Sebastian Fabik, who continues to have a stellar season and is one of the top hitters in the GLSCL. Fabik went 2-5 with 2 RBIs and a stolen base.

The game started of relatively even, as both teams scored a run in their half of the first inning. The Locos would score two runs in the second, but Southern Ohio responded in the bottom of the third with two runs of their own thanks to RBI singles from Fabik and Reese Trahey.

The middle innings is when Lima began to pull away, as the Locos scored four in the fourth, three in the fifth and five in the sixth to take a 15-3 lead. In the bottom half of those innings, the Copperhead offense went stagnant, struggling to respond to Lima’s offensive outbursts.

A Daniel Cruz single in the bottom of the seventh added another run, but Southern Ohio was unable to string any big hits together in an attempt at a rally.

Despite the big loss, the Copperheads wrap up play against the GLSCL North Division with a 7-3 record. The strong stretch of baseball played has increased the team’s playoff hopes entering the final stretch of the season.

“To make up that type of ground in just two weeks is huge for this ball club,” Dunfee said. “(To go from) floating around at the bottom (of the standings), and now we’re floating around the top, it’s gives those guys a lot of confidence.”

The Copperheads will look to rebound from the loss and get back to South division play with a win as they travel to Xenia to take on the Scouts (12-12). First pitch on Tuesday is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.