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He swiped his glove toward second base as he landed, but Matt Gorniak slid under it safely with a stolen base.
That play is what allowed West Salem to score a 5-4 eight-inning victory over the visiting Raiders on Thursday night.
It was big because T.J. Holven followed with a two-out ground ball that went under the glove of Arcadia second baseman Brandon Zastrow to score Gorniak with the winning run.
“We’re a fast team, and that’s what helps us on stealing bases,” said Gorniak, who reached first on an error with one out in the eighth. “It was the eighth inning, and we had to take a gamble.”
The Panthers (11-2, 11-0) tied the game at 4 on Josh Zander’s double to center field. That hit scored Brian Wright, who moved into scoring position on a throwing error.
“You have to stay away from making mistakes, and both teams made some,” Arcadia coach Paul Anderson said. “We left a few (runners) out there after their mistakes, and we needed to get those.”
The Raiders (12-6, 7-4) stranded 10 runners on base. Seven of them were left in scoring position.
Arcadia took a 4-2 lead with a two-run fifth that included a single, stolen base and run scored by Tyler Manley.
Manley was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two stolen bases. He stole his second base with two outs in the top of the eighth, but West Salem reliever Dan Schneider struck out catcher Max Ferguson swinging to end the inning.
Schneider, a junior left-hander, also made a big play from right field in the third when he caught a fly ball for the second out and threw out Cole Bauer at the plate to complete a double play.
Gorniak’s steal made plays like that one very important.
“He’s fast, and he got a good jump,” West Salem coach Chuck Ihle said of Gorniak. “In that case, we had a better chance at stealing second than getting two hits in a row.”
