REACTION — Toronto’s Chase Heckathorn celbrates a double against Edison on Wednesday at the Knights Baseball Complex. - Andrew Grimm

The Toronto baseball team was able to show such an ability Wednesday evening hosting rival Edison in a battle of state-ranked teams at the KBC.

The Red Knights saw an early lead get away on a two-out error that tied the game in the third inning, but locked back in, got the lead back in the fifth and made it stand up for a 4-2 victory over the Wildcats.

“I was proud of our kids, it showed the championship mentality they have to battle through the adversity and battle back,” Toronto head coach Brian Perkins said. “We had really good at-bats all day long and ended up with nine or ten hits, we had line-drive outs on hard-hit balls, I’m really happy with the way we competed.”

The win is the 11th-straight for the now 19-2 Red Knights. They are the No. 2 ranked team in Ohio Division VI in the latest Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association poll.

MAKING THE THROW — Toronto catcher Mike Henry makes a throw to first after fielding the ball against Edison on Wednesday evening. - Andrew Grimm

“It’s good game to have late in the season, anytime we play Mike Collopy and his Edison team we know they’re going to be tough and well-coached,” Perkins said. “For the kids, it’s a neighboring rivalry and the kids enjoy playing each other.

“It was a great game, its the kind of game that gets you ready for tournament time.”

For Edison (14-6), while coming up short after battling back from the early 2-0 hole was disappointing, veteran coach Mike Collopy was happy with his team’s effort overall against a quality opponent.

“It was a good game, I told the kids after the game I am proud of them and we just have to keep playing,” said Collopy, whose Wildcats are ranked No. 8 in Division V in the same OHSBCA poll. “We’re going through a little bit of a cycle where we’re not playing like we want to, but it’s the time of the year where we have to work to get better every day and keep battling.

“It’s the time of the year where you want to be playing good teams and that is a very good team, they’re well-coached and I am proud of the way our kids competed.”

The contest between neighboring schools was a pitcher’s duel, with the Knights Aiden Filby (no earned runs, four strikeouts, three walks) and the Wildcats’ Brady Haught (two earned runs, seven strikeouts, no walks) each going the distance on the mound for their teams.

Toronto struck first in the bottom of the first when Mike Henry put a ball in play and an error brought home Cole Barcus, who had led off with a single. Heath Thomas’ two-out RBI single later in the inning made it a 2-0 lead.

Edison got its runs a couple innings later when, after Evan Kimmerle kept the inning going with a two-out single, Cole Pittman put a ball in play and an error allowed Nolan Haught and Kimmerle to cross and even the score.

In the fifth, though, the Knights had the needed answer, also with two outs. Russ Dickinson’s two-out RBI triple put the hosts back on top, and a Henry RBI single in the next at-bat made it 4-2.

From there, Filby made it stand up.

UP NEXT

Edison: Has a couple days to regroup before hosting Granville on Saturday afternoon.

Toronto: Heads on the road to Buckeye Local today.

Toronto 4, Edison 2

E 0-0-2 0-0-0 0 — 2 4 1

T 2-0-0 0-2-0 x — 4 9 1

EDISON (14-6): Haught (LP, 6IP, 4R, 2ER, 7K, 0BB) and Henderson. Kimmerle S; Pittman S; Henderson S; Freeman S.

TORONTO (19-2): Filby (WP, CG, 2R, 0ER, 4K, 3BB) and Henry. Dickinson T, RBI; Heckathorn D; Henry D, S, 2RBIs; Barcus S; Bouscher S; Filby S; Thomas S, RBI; Newbold S.