Baseball Recap: Nic Stumpf's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Kenton Ridge over Jonathan Alder

Kenton Ridge entered their game against Jonathan Alder on Thursday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. The Cougars might be feeling deja-vu: they lost 2-1 to the Pioneers, which was the same score (and result) they got the week prior. Unfortunately, that's the second time they've come up short against the Pioneers this season, as they also lost their prior matchup 2-1 on Wednesday.

Jake Beard spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered just two earned runs on seven hits and racked up seven Ks.

At the plate, Kenton Ridge saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Nic Stumpf, who went 1-for-3 with one stolen base. Another was Jakob Groeschel, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one stolen base.

This is the second loss in a row for Kenton Ridge and nudges their season record down to 14-3. Even worse, they were so close both times: the losses came by an average of only one runs. As for Jonathan Alder, the victory keeps they at an undefeated 18-0.

Kenton Ridge and Jonathan Alder should be looking forward to their upcoming games as both have a sizable advantage in the MaxPreps Ohio Rankings. The Cougars (ranked 34th) will meet Northwestern (ranked 550th) at 5:15 p.m. on Friday. Meanwhile, Jonathan Alder will square off against Benjamin Logan at 5:15 p.m. on Friday with a big rank advantage (11 vs. 311).