Reinartz homers in Zebra loss to Logansport

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Tanner Reinartz

Tanner Reinartz hit a solo homer, but the Rochester baseball team fell 5-1 to visiting Logansport at Bob Copeland Field Thursday.

Logansport improved to 14-9. Class 2A, No. 4 Rochester lost their second straight game and dropped to 16-4.

The losing streak is Rochester’s first since they lost to both Twin Lakes and Northwestern at the Twin Lakes Invitational on May 18, 2024. Rochester has not lost three straight games since the 2022 season.

Joshua Middleton pitched a five-hitter for Logansport for the win. Middleton did not register a strikeout with his off-speed arsenal, and he only had one 1-2-3 inning. But he walked only one, and the Zebras never had more than one runner on base at any time.

“He’s been a big innings-eater for those guys,” Rochester coach Cory Good said of Middleton. “Not a ton of Ks, but that’s his M.O., you know. He gets some weak contact. He gets guys out on the front foot. We didn’t adjust real well. I didn’t think the wind helped a lot. Stuff that we were hitting hard just got hung up and floated around. Easy outs in the outfield for both teams today. He mixed pitches well. He keeps his pitch count down and can work long in the game. In that conference and the competition that they play, I assume that that plays well for them to do.”

Brant Beck took the loss on the mound. Pitching for the first time in nine days, he retired the first 10 batters he faced before Bryson Herr’s one-out double in the fourth. Herr scored on Camden Chapman’s RBI single, and Chapman advanced to second on a wild pitch and later scored on Carson Dubes’ RBI single.

Reinartz jacked his sixth homer of the season in the bottom half.

Beck then got three ground ball outs from the 7-8-9 batters in the fifth. In the sixth, Bryson Herr walked, and Braylon Ritchie singled, but Camden Chapman grounded into a forceout to Linden Wilburn at third, and Dubes grounded to short.

Known for his impeccable control, Middleton’s walk to Reinartz to lead off the sixth was just the sixth batter he had walked this season. But he got the next three batters out, negating both a stolen base from Reinartz and a nifty baserunning play in which he advanced from second to third after a throw in from right field after Zakk Parks’ fly ball was mishandled.

Logansport then got three insurance runs in the seventh on Deagan Kitchel’s two-run double and Herr’s RBI single.

Good praised Beck’s performance, saying that his pitches had a lot of late movement.

“We kind of pushed him back a little bit,” Good said of Beck. “He had a little arm soreness after that start (against Wabash May 6). Just wanted to give him plenty of time to reboot and reset, and I thought he came out and pitched very well today. I’m proud of the way he threw a ton of strikes. … a lot of weak flies and ground balls. The defense played well, and that helped Brant really have a great bounce-back performance today.”

Good was asked if there was a hangover effect from a 6-2 loss to Northwestern Wednesday that dropped the Zebras into a tie for second in the Three Rivers Conference.

“I don’t think so,” Good said. “I think our guys have bounced back pretty well this year. Obviously, our first two losses back-to-back on the season. I thought guys were focused and ready to go. There wasn’t any panic. … Let’s get back to business. Let’s play again. And from body language and attitude so far, I think that’s what we’re ready to do on Saturday.”

Logansport coach Dan Frye praised Middleton afterwards, noting that few teams his his off-speed stuff hard. He also had kind words for the Zebras.

“It’s a good team,” Frye said. “We talked about it in between innings when we came in defensively watching them. That’s one of the better defensive teams I’ve seen. And Josh held them in check. They’re a good team. I know that. Well coached. We know every time we face Rochester it’s a game.”

Zebra notes

• Junior Carson Paulik did not play as he recovered from a knee injury suffered against Peru Monday. Paulik pitched but did not bat against Northwestern. Paulik pitched against Logansport in both 2023 and 2024.

• Rochester has added a home game with New Prairie to the schedule. Game time is 11 a.m. May 24 at Bob Copeland Field.

• Rochester’s sectional game with Manchester will start at 7 p.m. May 28 at Oak Hill. Rochester’s softball sectional semifinal game against either Lewis Cass or Oak Hill will start at the same time at Oak Hill.

Logansport 5, Rochester 1

Logansport 000 200 3 – 5 6 2

Rochester 000 100 0 – 1 5 0

WP – Joshua Middleton (7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K)

LP – Brant Beck (7 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 1 K)

2B – Bryson Herr (LOG), Deagan Kitchel (LOG)

HR – Tanner Reinartz (RHS)