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Ripon rolls rival RC
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Jared Macedo connects for a three-run, two-base knock in the bottom of the fourth inning when host Ripon broke the game open against rival Ripon Christian Wednesday. - photo by JONAMAR JACINTO
RIPON – There wasn’t a whole lot that Ripon Christian’s pitching staff could do wrong coming into its second league game against intracity rival Ripon Wednesday afternoon.

With a combined team earned run average below 1.00 and Ripon Christian starter Clayton Prins shutting down seven Ripon batters through the game’s first two innings, it looked as if another strong outing was going to come from the mound.

The Indians thought otherwise.

After David Knell started off the bottom of the third inning with a walk for Ripon, Alex Gustin broke the stalemate with an RBI double that lit the fuse for an Indian rally that quickly put the game out of reach.

Ripon tacked on five more runs in the fourth inning to break the game wide open, and scored in both the fifth and sixth innings en route to its 10-1 victory.

“I felt that we played with confidence and we played much better as a team today,” Ripon head coach Mitchell Evans said. “We put the ball in play and moved guys over and gave ourselves some opportunities.

“Ripon Christian is a tough team, and I know that they’ll be looking to end things differently when we meet again later this season so we’re just going to have to work and be ready when that day comes.”

A pair of back-to-back singles and a Ripon Christian infield error loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth inning, setting the table for Jared Macedo to bash in a base-clearing double that served as the main explosion of Ripon’s offensive attack.

Knights pitcher Wes Lown inherited the bases-loaded situation after Prins walked in a run and handed Ripon (1-1 TVL, 3-7) a 2-0 lead.

Lown accidently grazed the shoulder of Matt Ratto late in the count to send another run home  and managed to produce an infield fly-out before serving up the double that cast the fate of the Knights (1-1, 3-4) in stone.

“We’ve been pitching such lights-out ball so far this season that we were bound to have a game like this,” Ripon Christian head coach John De Visser said. “Once we settle down we can start to put things together, but that just didn’t happen today – it got way out of hand in a hurry and we couldn’t recover from it.”

Justin Scott went the distance for Ripon and surrendered only an unearned run in the sixth inning. He finished the game four strikeouts and a pair of walks.

“Justin dealt for us today,” Evans said. “When he did give up a hit it was when there was nobody on base and nobody in scoring position, and if he did get himself into a jam he pitched his way out of it. I think that’s a testament to his hard work – he just had a great day today.”

Macedo finished the game 2 for 3 with three RBIs, a double, and a run scored, while sophomore Jake McCreath finished 3 for 4 with a pair of runs scored. Knell walked in all three of his plate appearances, and reached home plate twice.