Aviators Find The 'Power' In 9-5 Win Over Troy

TROY — It’s a used insole. Worn down, no particular shape, no known owner. Somewhere between Saturday’s 14-1 demolition of Defiance and Monday’s third inning at the Trojan’s Market Street Field, it became the most important piece of equipment in the Aviators dugout.

Troy walked ten batters. Butler won 9-5. The insole is undefeated. And so are the Aviators (9-0, 4-0).

“Great comeback win for the Aviators tonight,” said head coach Trent Dues after the game.

Here’s what we know about Monday without the supernatural explanation: two undefeated teams, 8-0 apiece, meeting on the Trojan’s home field in the kind of game that only happens twice in  season — because when the tournament comes, Butler and Troy will go their separate ways, D-III and D-II. Monday was the first chance either p

rogram gets to answer the question everybody in the Miami Valley was already asking.Troy made the first statement. Brody Hoke singled in a run in the first, Aidan Gorman added another in the second, and through two innings the Trojans looked every bit as good as their record said they were. Davis Ketterer was working, but Troy’s lineup had answers — seven hits and four runs in two innings before coach Trent Dues signaled for the bullpen.

To start the top of the third, Ketterer reached for his bat. Somebody reached for the insole. Ketterer watched four straight balls for a leadoff walk and Ezra Scheffler doubled — something was stirring.

Butler scored two runs — a Declan Scheffler sacrifice fly and a Koby Dues single — and tied the game at 2-2. The dugout believed. The insole was working.

Troy didn’t flinch. In the bottom of the third, Akins singled, Hoke grounded out for a run, and then Andrew Westfall stepped in and put one over the left field wall. Just like that it was 5-2 Trojans, and a lesser team might have quietly tucked the insole away and accepted the deficit.

Butler never put it away.

Tate Richardson walked in from the bullpen and went to work — three and two-thirds innings, four hits, one run, six strikeouts, the quiet and complete dominance that has defined his season. While Richardson held Troy at arm’s length, the Butler offense started its climb back.“

Tate did a really nice job in relief, holding Troy at bay while we took the lead,” said Dues.

The moment the game turned had a name and a number on its back. Jackson Schilling, number ten, catcher, stepped to the plate in the fifth inning with the bases loaded and Butler trailing by three. He hit a hard line drive double to left field. Three runners scored. Butler led 6-5 and never looked back.

“A huge bases-clearing double,” Dues called it afterward — along with two throw-outs from behind the plate that erased whatever ideas Troy’s baserunners had about taking liberties. That’s the complete game from a catcher. That’s the kind of night that defines a season.Ezra Scheffler was just as good. The freshman second baseman went 2-for-4 with two doubles, two runs scored, and an incredible scoop and throw in the final inning that sealed the win. For a kid batting eighth in the order on the road against the league leader, that’s a coming-out-party performance.

“Ezra with two huge doubles and fantastic defensive play to end the game,” said Dues.

Koby Dues closed the door — one and a third innings, one hit, no runs — the same Koby Dues who walked twice and drove in a run at the plate. A full night’s work, quietly done.

“Koby did a great job tonight closing the game for us,” Dues said.

Nine wins. Still perfect. Troy gets another crack at them Tuesday night at Day Air Ballpark, 7:00 PM, and Dues isn’t letting anyone exhale about it.

“We see them again tomorrow — gotta bring it again,” he said.

And you better believe…the insole will also be ready.