Bob Wren Stadium – The Southern Ohio Copperheads lost in sudden death to the Hamilton Joes Sunday June 30th. The Copperheads battled offensively with the Joes; coming down to the 11th inning. Each team had 13 hits for the night.  

The Copperheads were the first to strike in the bottom of the first inning.  Trenton Neuer started the inning with a single through the 5-6 hole.  Billy Adams followed with a similar shot; putting Neuer in scoring position.  Alex Ungar had a line drive single to right scoring Neuer.  

The Joes took the lead in the top of the second with two runs.  With one out, Jamie Palmese had a single up the middle, going on the steal both second and third.  Tommy Harrison advanced to first off a walk, and Bryce Habuda filled the bases after being hit by a pitch. Palmese scored off a sacrifice flyout to right field from Eli Kieser.  Harrison also went on to score the next at-bat. 

The Copperheads tied it up in the bottom of the second with one run off one hit.  With one out Gavyn Smith advanced to first off a walk and stole second.  Case Sullivan had a double in the left field corner to score Smith.  

In the top of the third, the Joes scored two runs off two hit, making the score 2-4.  Braxton Baird started the inning with a bunt single down the third baseline.  Paul Osting followed with a walk. Baird and Osting both stole bases.  Cam Gilkerson had a single to right, scoring Baird; but Osting was thrown out at the plate by Copperheads right fielder Ungar.  Gikerson was able to stretch his single advancing to second on the throw to home.  Gilkerson made his way to third on a wild pitch, going on to score from a groundout from Ryan Novak to Copperheads second baseman.  

The Copperheads regained the lead in the bottom of the third; adding on four runs making the score 6-4. With two outs, Alejandro Covas started the rally with a single to right, advancing to second after Joey Canzoni was hit by a pitch.  Ben Clark filled the bases, reaching first on a walk.  Smith scored Covas on a single to drive Joe's third baseman.  Sullivan followed with a walk that scored Canzoni.  Neuer had a two RBI single up the middle to score both Clark and Smith.  

The Joes answered in the top of the fourth, tacking on four more runs, flipping the lead back to the Joes 6-8.  Harrison started the inning advancing to first after being hit by a pitch.  Habuda hit a two-run home run over the right field wall. Kieser followed, advancing to first off a walk.  With two outs, Osting matched Habuda with a two-run home run over the right field wall to score the final two runs of the inning. 

The Copperheads were able to comeback score five runs off four hits in the bottom of the fourth.  Ungar started the rally with a single between the third baseman and shortstop.  Hunter Strong followed with a single to Joes diving left fielder.  Covas and Canzoni had back-to-back walks, scoring Ungar.  Clark had a two RBI single that dropped in prime spot over the first baseman; scoring Strong and Covas. Canzoni went on to score from a groundout from Sullivan on the right side.  Neuer followed with a single up the middle to score Clark and the fifth run of the inning, tallying the score to 11-8.

The fifth and sixth frame remained scoreless, until the top of the seventh.  The Joes narrowed the lead of the Copperheads to one run.  The Joes scored two runs off two hits, bringing the score to 11-10. With one out, Novak advanced to first on a walk.  Novak moved to scoring position at second on a groundout from Palmese to Copperheads third baseman. Harrison followed with a two-run home run over the right field wall.  

In the bottom of the seventh, the Copperheads added one run to their lead; score being 12-10.  With one out, Adams had a line drive single between Joes third baseman and shortstop, advancing to second on a passed ball.  Ungar advanced to first off a walk; and Adams advanced to third on a wild pitch, splitting the runners.  Strong was able to score Adams on a sacrifice fly to center.  

The Joes went on to tie the score after the ninth, scoring on runs in both the eight and the ninth.  In the top of the eighth, Gilkerson advanced to first off a walk, making his way to second on a wild pitch; and third from a balk.  Novak had a single up the middle to score Gilkerson.  In the top of the ninth, Mark Rutherford kept the Joes in the game with a solo home run shot over the right field wall.  

The final run of the game was scored in sudden death by the Joes in the top of the 11th.  With Kieser starting on first base, Rutherford advanced to first on a walk.  Osting followed being intentionally walked to fill the bases. Cam Gilkerson had a ground ball single to Copperheads pitcher, scoring Kieser to win the game 13-12. 

Both the Copperheads and the Joes were consistent with timely hits and taking advantage of opportunities to score runs.

The Joes pitching staff used four pitchers on the night: combining for ten strikeouts, seven walks, and thirteen hits.  The Copperheads pitching staff also used four pitchers: combining for seven strikeouts, eight walks, and thirteen hits.  

The Copperheads will be back at Bob Wren stadium July 2nd to face the Grand Lake Mariners, first pitch at 7:0 p.m.

By Gabby Nafziger