FeedsWayne tops Glenn, 6-2
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Wayne pitcher Ryan Collop was back on track last week when he helped his Zebras beat cross-town rival Glenn, 6-2.The Wayne Zebras picked a good week to come alive when they hosted cross-town rival John Glenn on the last day of April to earn their best—if not most important—win of the season, 6-2.
The crossover win didn’t help their division record and only improved their overall record to 8-11, but it was just as much a mental victory as a physical one. Senior hurler Ryan Collop, who struggled through the first half of the season, put in a memorable performance in the triumph.
Collop pitched a complete game with six strikeouts and spread out five hits and three walks over the seven-inning outing. The performance helped back up a strong show by another struggling starter Jon Bryant last Monday. Bryant held Plymouth to one run through five innings before the Wildcats broke through in the sixth. Wayne didn’t win that game but it showed that Zebra arms are alive and well.
“It was great to see Ryan have a good outing like that,” said Wayne Coach Paul Cavanaugh. “He has been putting a lot of pressure on himself to pitch well and he turned in a good game for us. Along with the fact that Jon Bryant also pitched well his last outing I think the starters might be getting back to the way that they can pitch and that we had hoped that they would pitch this year.”
With that said, the rivalry match-up with the Rockets looked as routine as a regular practice for Wayne with everything falling nicely into place.
That is until Glenn scored an unearned run in the top of the third inning for a 1-0 lead.
Wayne settled back down and, at the bottom of the inning, took advantage of Glenn errors to overcome the Rockets, 2-1.
Junior newcomer Zeb Hancock made his way around the bases on what otherwise was a double due to two overthrown cutoffs. The hit also scored Brent Patterson from first.
The good fortune continued in the fourth, when senior Stefan Harrison knocked in Bryant and senior Eric Schmitt on a single for a 4-1 advantage. In the fifth, Wayne added one more when Hancock scored from third on a fielder’s choice. Schmitt, in to pinch run for senior Tim Siegfried, scored from third on junior Jesse Dorow’s grounder in the bottom of the sixth.
Glenn scored its second run in the seventh on sacrifice popup by senior Jon Gillis. Collop held the Rockets off the rest of the way.
“It’s always good for the kids to win the rivalry game with the cross-town team especially since so many of them are friends and now they have bragging rights for the year,” Cavanaugh said. “It was a big win for the team as well. Hopefully it showed that all of the hard work the guys have been doing to turn the corner and get back on track is paying off.
“And I would be lying if I said that this was just another win for me,” he added. “Being a Wayne grad and former player, I know what winning these games mean. It’s always special to win the cross-town game and beat a quality team and coach that I respect like Glenn and Coach (Tom) Wakefield.”
Senior Jase Paciocco accounted for three of Glenn’s five hits on the day.
The Rockets started the season strong and have kept their heads above water until this loss dunked them under the .500 mark for the first time. After the game, Glenn was 9-10 overall.
“We are just not doing the little things,” said Wakefield. “(Doing the little things) is what makes our program run. We have gotten away from that. Our philosophy focuses on playing ourselves. We have to make plays and minimize mental lapses in order to be successful. We didn’t do that against Wayne.”
Wakefield hopes the slide doesn’t continue and with some good practices last week feels the fire was relit.
“Teams usually face some kind of adversity throughout the season,” he said. “We are facing ours right now. I have confidence that this team will respond and peak at the right time.”
Glenn heads to Churchill at 4 p.m. on Friday; hosts Walled lake Western at 4 p.m. on Monday; and heads back on the road to Northville at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
Wayne is at Franklin at 4 p.m. on Friday and Andover—for a doubleheader—at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
They return home to host Canton at 4 p.m. on Monday and Walled Lake Northern at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
