BEVERLY - Through five innings of baseball Beverly/Lowell Post 389/750 and Zanesville Post 29 had combined for one run and five hits.
With the exception of the second pitch of the game by Beverly/Lowell starter Michael Bauman, which was launched for a solo home run by Michael Lynn, the game was a flawless pitching effort by both team's hurlers.
That changed in the sixth.
Zanesville scored 11 runs, just four of them earned, as Post 29 dropped Beverly/Lowell 13-3 at Fort Frye Field in Beverly.
"This is kind of getting to be a pattern with us," said a dejected Beverly/Lowell coach Todd Engle.
After pitching five nearly perfect innings Bauman plunked Jordan Sharrer with a pitch then gave up an RBI single to Aaron Adams, prompting Engle to make a pitching change and bring on Tyler Stevens.
"Michael Bauman's effort on the mound was outstanding," Engle praised. "He stepped out there and gave me five solid innings."
Stevens' first batter had the same fate as Bauman's first batter of the inning, getting hit by a pitch.
Stevens then induced an easy grounder back to the mound from Mark Wylie for the first out of the inning and appeared ready to limit the damage when he induced another ground ball from Drew Sharrer three pitches later.
Instead of taking the out at first Beverly/Lowell shortstop Tyler Proctor elected to come home in an attempt to catch Adams at the plate but his throw was short and bounced over the head of catcher Trey Engle.
From there the game spiraled out of control as Cody Wayner struck out, but reached after the ball eluded the catcher and Austin Dunn launched a home run to left, getting Zanesville off and running.
Kyle Stiltner followed with another single, Lynn walked and Jordan Sharrer singled home one run before Adams ground out was bobbled by Mason Lang at third base to allow another run to score.
Colten Maxwell proceeded to launch a three-run home run to right to cap the 11 run inning for Post 29.
Of the 11 runs plated in the sixth just four of them were earned as Beverly/Lowell committed four errors in the inning and allowed Wayner to reach after striking out.
"We just keep shooting ourself in the foot offensively, defensively. It seems like every night we're finding a different way to lose," coach Engle said.
Trailing 12-0 in the bottom of the sixth Beverly/Lowell was able to avoid the 10-run mercy rule by plating collecting three hits and three runs.
Garrett Proctor reached on a fielder's choice, moved ahead a bag on Trey Engle's single to center and scored on Bauman's bloop single to right.
Brandon Starr followed with an RBI ground out to second and Scott Pettit followed with a pinch-hit RBI single to center to score Bauman for the final Beverly/Lowell run.
Wayner ripped a solo homer to left in the top of the seventh to set the final score.
Losers of five of their last six games coach Engle took responsibility for the dramatic drop-off in Beverly/Lowell's season, which saw the squad go from 8-2 to 9-7 as it stands now.
"I'm a big enough person to shoulder the blame for this," coach Engle said. "They're willing to work hard. We're willing to work through this."
This stretch of the season has been difficult for Beverly/Lowell but now the Post 389/750 team moves away from playing district opponents and into tournaments against teams from other parts of the state and country.
When next Beverly/Lowell squares off against its district foes will be the District Tournament and coach Engle expects a much different game the next time.
"They will see a different team come tournament time," coach Engle said.
Zanesville Post 29 13, Beverly/Lowell Post 389/750 3
Zanesville 100 00(11) 1 - 13 9 1
Beverly/Lowell 000 003 0 - 3 7 5
WP: Mark Wylie 7 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO
LP: Michael Bauman 5+ IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO
Tyler Stevens 2 IP, 6 H, 10 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO
ZANESVILLE (17-5): Michael Lynn 1-4, HR, 2 runs, RBI; Jordan Sharrer 1-4, 2 runs, RBI; Aaron Adams 1-4, 2 runs, 2 RBI; Colten Maxwell 1-2, HR, 2 runs, 3 RBI; Drew Sharrer 0-4, run; Cody Wayner 1-4, HR, 2 runs, RBI; Austin Dunn 2-4, HR, run, 2 RBI; Kyle Stiltner 1-3, run; Kyle Butler 1-1
BEVERLY/LOWELL (9-7): Tyler Spence 1-4; Tyler Proctor 1-4, run; Trey Engle 1-3, run; Michael Bauman 2-3, run, RBI; Brandon Starr 0-2, RBI; Scott Pettit 1-1, RBI; Justin Ellis 1-3
Next game: Beverly/Lowell at Coshocton, 6 p.m. Thursday.
