LIMA – Russia opened their 2025 baseball season Friday night with a 5-2 come from behind victory on the road at Shawnee.
Shawnee sprinted out of the gate hot in the first inning as starter Kaiden Fritchie sat the visiting Raiders down 1-2-3 on just 11 pitches.
Leadoff hitter Tate Bender singled against Russia starter Maddox Goubeaux and later scored as the Indians utilized a pair of walks and an RBI single by Caleb Bacome to push ahead 2-0.
Senior outfielder Micah Grieshop ripped a triple to kick off the second frame for Russia and later scored to cut the lead to 2-1 for his squad.
Fritchie and Goubeaux exchanged moments of brilliance for the two squads in an at times on the mound while facing aggressive hitters and a pouring down rain.
Fritchie struck out the Raiders side in the fourth and would only allow a pair of base runners from the third through fifth innings in his time on the hill. Goubeaux fanned four Indian hitters in his two innings on the mound before giving way to junior hurler Cooper Unverferth.
“Credit Shawnee, they made some plays at the start,” said Russia head coach Kevin Phlipot. “We just stayed at it, we hit the ball well but couldn’t bunch them together early.”
With Unverferth holding the opposing offense to just a hit by pitch and a single, the Raider offense began to settle in during the games later stretches.
Seven Russia hitters teamed up to push across a run after a Zeb Schulze double and an Indian error to tie the game in the sixth at 2-2.
Russia pushed themselves into their first lead in the top of the seventh on singles by Grant Bergman, and Cooper Unverferth and capitalized on a throwing error by Shawnee on a hit by Vince Borchers to amass a 5-2 lead before a flyout ended the half inning.
Tasked with finishing the game out for the Raiders, reliever Zeb Borchers allowed a lead-off single to pinch hitter Ty Rudasill and a walk to catcher Braden Stiles before closing the door on the Indians with a pair of strike outs and a ground out to earn a save.
“I told Zeb Borchers if you throw strikes we will win,” said Phlipot. “He’s experienced enough he knew what to do and he started making his pitches, he was locked in.”
Shawnee (0-3) starter Kaiden Fritchie tossed 6.1 innings, surrendering three runs on five hits while striking out five in the loss. Russia (1-0) reliever Cooper Unverferth threw four innings and struck out five while giving up just a single hit to earn the win while Borchers notched the save.
Delphos St. Johns will welcome Shawnee to town on Monday for a non-league tilt while Russia tangles with Urbana on Saturday afternoon in their next outing.
“Some guys are looking better than others at this time, but we’ve not seen a lot of live pitching so far in the 10 days we’ve been at this,” said Phlipot. “We can be a better hitting team than I anticipated this season. Missing one of the best players in the state in Braylon Cordonnier was a big key going into today, but other guys now will have to find ways to win ballgames now and that will make other guys make big plays for us going forward.”
Box Score:
Russia 0-1-0-0-0-1-3 5-6-1
Shawnee 2-0-0-0-0-0-0 2-4-3
WP: Cooper Unverferth (4IP, 0R, 1H, 5K, 1HBP)
LP: Kaiden Fritchie (6.1IP, 3R, 5H, 5K, 1BB, 1HBP, 1IBB)
SV: Zeb Borchers (1IP, 0R, 1H, 2K, 1BB)
Top Hitters:
Tate Bender (S): 1/4, 1R
Micah Grieshop (R): 1/2, 2BB