Senior captain Alex Jacobs went one for two, stole four bases and scored two runs as the Beaver 9 erased a 5-0 deficit to defeat visiting Gann Academy 8-7 Wednesday on the diamond at Upper Field.
Sophomore classmates Henry Floyd and Devon Friedfertig split the pitching duties for Beaver as the former picked up his 2nd win on the season with the latter picking up his 3rd save in as many tries.
The Gann bats were out early, racing to a 5-0 lead after the first three frames. In the home half of the 3rd, however, Jacobs would get things going for the Beaver offense with a lead-off single. After stealing second and third, Jacobs was plated by fellow captain Connor Laubenstein, who sent a double down the right field line. He would come around to score when senior Steven Phillips continued his torrid hitting, homering to deep left. Friedfertig would single and steal two bags before being driven in by classmate Nima Olumi to cut the Gann lead to 5-4.
The two teams would trade runs in the 4th before Gann came up with another run in the 5th to pad the lead at 7-5. Beaver would once again battle back, though, when, after walks to Friedfertig, sophomore Jeremy Kaplan and senior Robbie Shapiro, senior Garrett Ekpunobi connected for a laser to deep center that would clear the bases. Friedfertig struck out two in the last two frames to close the door on the visitors.
With the non-conference win, Beaver improves to 6-6 on the season. On the outside of the “first four” looking in, Beaver looks to play its way into the Champions Bracket of the Eastern Independent League Tournament when they host LCA and Landmark next week.