Baseball

GRIFFITH, Ind. – Kaden Kumzi was called upon in a tough spot to help the Griffith Generals win back-to-back games for the first time this year, as he got the win in a 6-3 final over the Elkhart County Miracle. Kumzi had to warm up quickly after an injury to Kevin Schroer in the fifth inning, tossing his warmup pitches on the mound while everyone watched. Kumzi locked down the win in a 4.1-inning relief outing: while getting hurt himself. 

The Generals had a 2-1 lead going into the seventh inning, but a clutch two-run single by Jaden Miller put the Miracle up 3-2. In the seventh inning, the Generals struck back with a vengeance. Dilan Pinero only recorded one out and was relieved by Rovino Vasquez-Vallejo, who surrendered all three runners left on base by Pinero and gave up one run of his own.

The runs scored on two walks and an error, making the score 6-3 Generals. In all the chaos, tempers flared from the Miracle as Vasquez-Vallejo spiked his glove on the ground multiple times, and the catcher Curtis Ball got ejected by home plate umpire Andy Pappas. Javier Gueuara replaced Ball defensively.

The heroic sequence by Kumzi started in the eighth when Bryce Lesher hit a comebacker to the mound. The ball drilled Kumzi in the leg and knocked him to the ground. He quickly got back up, sprinted toward first, and underhanded the ball to Dylan Mayer, ending the inning. Kumzi hobbled back to the bench and was down on all fours in pain for several minutes.

The Generals didn’t score in their half of the inning, and the consensus was that a new arm would finish the game for Griffith. But to the shock and awe of the Generals faithful, Kumzi labored back onto the mound. He only needed to face four batters to record three outs in the ninth, and he hobbled off with a gutsy win for his team. It was an inspiring showing by the right-hander out of Ohio Northern University.

Kumzi was upfront in his postgame interview, saying, “I’m gonna be really honest with you, the sooner the ball gets hit back at you, your life flashes before your eyes. I hopped back to the dugout and let the pain play out from there.”

He never had any doubt that he would return for the ninth. “I knew I was coming back in right away. I could walk, so I was coming right back out.” Kumzi could be seen after the game with a baseball-sized welt on the back of his right quadricep, trying his best to walk straight.

Coach Peter Romsek was thrilled with his team's performance: "It was a good baseball game. Our pitchers did a great job. Josh gave us a great start when he wasn’t feeling the best. Kaden Kumzi picked us up big time and saved us some effort for the weekend. It was our first errorless game, too.” 

Regarding the early exit of Kevin Schroer, Romsek was optimistic about the “day-to-day” nature of the injury. “His elbow has been tight for the last week or so. It was precautionary,” with the abrupt end to Schroer’s night.

The Miracle come straight back to Griffith tomorrow at 7:10 p.m. to try and stop a Generals team that has gone 4-3 in their last seven games after an 0-6 start. 

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