By Jacob Russell

Richmond, Ind. - Unlike Saturday night’s game, the Steam kept Richmond forever in their rear-view mirror after taking a lead in the first inning as they finished the sweep ahead of the all-star break. 

Center fielder Gephry Pena (Central Florida) began the game with the home run he needed to finish the cycle the previous night, his second of the summer. 

Warsaw Federal Player of the Game Jake Silverstein (Dayton), who finished a triple short of the cycle with four RBIs, followed Pena with a single and came home on his team’s third single of the first inning, this one off the bat of designated hitter Eddie Pursinger (Dayton). Cincinnati had a 4-0 lead before the Jazz could record the third out. 

Richmond starting pitcher Joey Gerbus’ (Earlham College) struggles continued in the second and third innings before he made an early exit. A Silverstein double scored Pena in the second before Griffin Merritt (Cincinnati) collected his second RBI. Ethan Stringer’s (Louisville) lone hit of the night made the score 7-0 after two. 

In the third inning, Pena reached home thanks to Silverstein a second time when the Dayton outfielder’s third hit of the night went over the fence. Gerbus left his first outing for Richmond with a loss and a line of two and one-third innings pitched, nine earned runs allowed on twelve hits and three strikeouts. 

Both Ryan Wickman (Valparaiso) and Cole Antle (Ohio Wesleyan) stopped the bleeding for the Jazz by hitting an RBI single in the fourth inning off Steam starter Jordan Menfee (Southern Indiana). Menfee, the winning pitcher, gave up two earned runs on four hits in four innings. The score was 9-2 after four, but Cincinnati wasn’t done and put up a single run in each of innings five through eight. 

During most of those innings, Ethan Doty (Otterbein) was on the mound and gave up three unearned runs on five hits while striking out two. According to the box score, those three unearned runs scored following Steam fielding errors in the seventh inning. 

Jack Dungan (Eastern Michigan) pitched a clean eighth. Southpaw Jonathan Brus (Dayton) recorded his third save of the summer by closing out his team’s 13-6 victory. 

The following players are representing the Cincinnati Steam in the 2019 GLSCL All-Star Game on July 16 at Prasco Park: Central Florida catcher Ben McCabe (starter), Dayton first baseman Eddie Pursinger (starter), Dayton outfielder Jake Silverstein (starter), Indiana outfielder Grant Richardson (starter), Cincinnati pitcher Andrew Noelker, and Wright State pitcher Jake Schrand. 

The Steam’s (21-15) next regular game is at home on July 18 at 7:05 p.m. against the Hamilton Joes (18-16). 

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