Needing a win to stay a game up on Pope in region standings with three games to play, Cambridge looked to avenge an early season loss to visiting Northview Monday night, April 15th at Cambridge.  Northview started their SEC-bound ace and Cambridge countered with its hottest pitcher, Blake Renner.  Renner has been nearly untouchable in his last three starts for the Bears.

 

The visitors wasted little time getting on the board in the first.  Two singles and a walk loaded the bases before a groundout pushed a run across.  Renner then picked the runner off at first and coaxed a groundout to first to escape further damage.  The Bears offense countered with a run of its own in the bottom of the inning to tie the score.  Cody Rech managed a two-out walk and moved to third on a single by Mitch Fleming.  The Northview pitcher then balked, scoring Rech.

 

Renner settled down in the second, striking out the side.  Cambridge continued its pressure on the Northview starter in the bottom of the inning.  Danny DeSousa walked to lead off the inning and Will Paulus took one in the back.  Johnny Eneberg sacrificed the runners over with a well-executed bunt.  The go ahead run scored via error on a Ross Friedrick ground ball.  Rech drove in another on a single to left.  Cambridge then pushed the lead to 4-1 courtesy of a wild pitch.

 

Renner went 1-2-3 in the third and the Bears offense continued to roll in the bottom of the inning.  Jackson Woods laced a leadoff single to left, then stole second.  He moved to third as DeSousa got on by error.  Paulus drove in Woods on an infield single and Ryan Todd drove in another on a single to center.  Paulus would also score on that play due to an errant throw from the center fielder, and Cambridge ended the inning up 7-1.

 

Northview added a run in the fifth to close the gap to 7-2, but the Bears got the run right back in the bottom of the inning.  Paulus led off with an infield single and stole second. Todd drove him in with a line drive single to left center for a 8-2 lead.

 

Northview loaded the bases in the sixth against Cambridge reliever Turner Rosenbaum and managed to push a couple of runs across, but Tommy Fester entered the game and secured the third out with a fly ball to center.  Singles by Jared Spears, Woods and Eneberg accounted for another Cambridge run in the bottom of the sixth, making the score 9-4.  Fester worked around a little trouble in the seventh but managed to end the game without further damage.

 

Todd, Woods and Paulus all had multi-hit games to lead the offense.  Todd had two RBI and Paulus scored three times.  Renner secured his fourth win of the season, going five innings and allowing two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts.  Fester worked the final inning and a third to earn his first career save.

 

Cambridge concludes region play with two crucial games against second place Pope and third place Dunwoody.  A win against Dunwoody guarantees a first round home playoff series for Cambridge, which would be the first in school history.  That game will be played at the Dunwoody Turf Fields on Wednesday, April 17th at 7:30 PM.

 

Go Bears!