Stanton hangs on for 12-8 win over Essex

When the Stanton Vikings baseball team jumped out to a quick four-run lead in the second inning against the Essex Trojans, Friday, there were whispers of “a quick game” in the crowd.

When the Vikings added four runs in the fifth inning on a two-run home run by Alex Whigham and an RBI triple by Tyler Havrum, the whispers became more of a murmur, but the Trojans weren’t listening.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Trojans’ woes continued when Levi Allen hit a come-backer to Stanton pitcher Tanner Stubbendeck, with runners on second and third. After confusion on the basepaths, both runners were caught in run-downs and tagged out, leaving a man on first with two outs.

Essex overcame the mistakes though to rally with four runs in the inning with RBI hits by Adam Lundgren and Chase Heinold to put the Viking lead to 8-5.

“We just hit that one inning,” said Stanton Head Coach Kevin Cabbage, “It has kind of been our Achilles heel all year. We had one inning where we get a couple errors and then it just starts feeding on itself.”

Stanton answered in the sixth with three runs, but the Trojans fought back with three in the bottom of the inning.

“The whole year we’ve been starting and not finishing, or finishing a game and not starting,” Trojans coach Luke Berning said. “Put two and two together and we can almost play with anybody.”

Stanton completed the scoring with a run in the seventh, as Matt Pruss shut down the Essex rally with a scoreless inning of relief. Essex drops to 7-7 with the loss. The Vikings continue to stay atop the conference with an 11- 2 record.