In a week that started off with the tragic death of Owensville Dutchmen head baseball coach Tyler Ahring’s father, it quickly turned around for the orange and black skipper.

Started last Tuesday with a 12-6 come-from-behind victory by the Dutchmen freshman over Borgia, Ahring’s varsity squad under acting head coach Steven Kemp pulled out a 9-7 road victory over St. Clair in eight innings two days later before the JV Dutchmen claimed consolation honors from the Pacific JV Tournament with a 6-5 win over Hermann’s Bearcats.

“I’m proud of the guys and Coach Kemp,” Ahring said. “They have stepped up and brought a smile to my face during the hardest time of my life.”

Last Tuesday at OHS Field, Andy Loague’s Owensville Dutchmen freshman fell behind 4-0 after three innings before beginning to blaze their comeback trail.

Landon Kramme led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a walk before he scored on a Jim Jenkins RBI single to get the Dutchmen on the board.

Thanks to another scoreless inning of relief from Elias Medlock, OHS only trailed Borgia 4-1 entering the bottom of the fifth inning.

Jaden Gerlemann got the offense going with a one-out single before a Medlock walk led to a Logan Bailey 2-RBI double trimming the Borgia lead to 4-3.

After Bailey scored on a sacrifice bunt to tie the game at 4-4, Maddox Parker reached on an error before scoring on a RBI ground out from Kramme giving Owensville their first lead of the game at 5-4.

Zaiden Gates followed with a two-out single before scoring when Jenkins reached on an error giving the Dutchmen freshman a 6-4 lead after five innings.

Throwing another scoreless inning of relief pitching, Medlock gave his orange and black offense a chance to add to their lead in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Matt Eckelkamp hit a leadoff single up the middle before taking second base on a wild pitch.

Gerlemann was then hit by a pitch before a balk moved him to second and Eckelkamp to third.

After Medlock reached on a fielder’s choice, Bailey was hit by a pitch allowing Eckelkamp to score.

An ensuing two-RBI single by Kramme allowed Gerlemann and Medlock to score pushing the OHS lead to 9-4 in the bottom of the sixth.

Jenkins walked with the bases loaded before Eckelkamp made the most of his second at-bat of the inning with a two-RBI double putting the Dutchmen up 12-4 three outs away from their first win of the young season.

Able to work around a pair of walks and a pair of hits, Owensville limited Borgia to two runs in the top of the seventh inning before holding on for a 12-6 victory.

Two days later, Ahring’s varsity Dutchmen under the coaching of assistant Steven Kemp opened Four Rivers Conference (FRC) baseball action on the road at St. Clair.

Jumping out to a 5-0 lead after three innings, Owensville had a 7-2 lead entering the bottom of the sixth inning before the host Bulldogs plated five runs to tie the game at 7-7 eventually sending it to extra innings.

Two runs in the top of the eighth helped the Dutchmen hold on for a 9-7 road victory at the dog pound.

Dominic Grigaitis led the game off getting hit by a pitch before Bryce Payne replaced him as a courtesy runner.

Taking second in defensive indifference, Payne eventually scored on a Derek Brandt RBI single giving the Dutchmen a 1-0 lead entering the bottom half of the first inning.

Pitching around a walk, single and fielder’s choice, Brandt kept St. Clair off the board giving Owensville a chance to add to their lead in the top of the second inning.

Logan Evans started things off with a one-out double before scoring on a Landon Valley RBI single doubling the Dutchmen lead to 2-0.

Another scoreless frame by Brandt in the bottom of the second inning allowed the OHS offense an opportunity to add to their lead.

Gavin Loague led off the top of the third with a walk before scoring on a RBI single off the bat of Dezmyn Moore bumping the Dutchmen lead to 3-0.

Evans then reached on an error setting the table for Valley with two on and two outs.

Facing a 3-1 count, Valley lifted a two-RBI double to left field giving the Dutchmen a 5-0 lead through three innings with Brandt keeping the Bulldogs off the scoreboard.

After a scoreless fourth inning, Evans led off the top of the fifth with a walk before scoring on a Valley RBI triple pushing OHS’ lead to 6-0.

Loague added to his sixth-inning home run by scoring the game’s final run on a passed ball in the top of the eighth inning.

With his first varsity win in his back pocket, Kemp now looked to help the JV Dutchmen get in the win column for the week during the Pacific JV Tournament.

Falling 7-2 in first-round action Friday at Dutzow against Washington, Owensville opened the consolation side of the bracket Saturday in St. Clair against St. James.

Exploding for 14 runs in the top of the second inning, Owensville went on to defeat the JV Tigers 19-0 in three innings to advance to the consolation championship game later in the day against Hermann.

Layne Evans and Landon Ely led the JV Dutchmen with three hits each in addition to three RBIs apiece from Jordan Rabbitt, Will Lauth and Landon Kramme.

Trailing the JV Bearcats 4-3 after three innings, Owensville plated three runs in the bottom of the fourth highlighted by a Rabbitt two-RBI double scoring Austin Long and Isaiah Gates.

An Ely RBI ground out scoring Gerlemann gave the Dutchmen their all-important sixth run.