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ROSS TWP. — Ross High School senior pitcher Derek Bischoff walked away from his pregame bullpen session feeling a little tight and, according to coach Jason Rettinger, a little nervous.

The Edgewood Cougars took advantage with two quick runs in the first inning, but once Bischoff settled down, he set them down.

Bischoff held Edgewood scoreless over the final six innings and hitless over the final five to lead the Rams to a 4-2 victory in Fort Ancient Valley Conference Scarlet Division baseball play Monday, April 7.

"A little too much of Derek Bischoff today," Edgewood coach Brian Caudill said. "He throws just as well as advertised. He's worthy of being a collegiate player, and that showed today."

Edgewood (2-3 overall, 0-2 FAVC Scarlet) got an RBI double from Josh Crout and an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Cody Leichman to take the 2-0 lead, but that was pretty much it as Bischoff finished off the five-hitter with eight strikeouts and two walks.

"I just had to get loose," said Bischoff, who improved to 2-0. "I came out of the bullpen not ready. Giving up two runs in the first inning was rough, but when we came back with three, that took a lot of pressure off."

Ross (3-1, 2-0) scored all three of those first-inning runs without benefit of a hit.

EHS starter Johnny Harding (0-2) opened the game with a walk, a hit batter and another walk, and it was his throwing error that allowed Andrew Parks to score the first run for the Rams.

Ross got its second run on a sacrifice fly by Randy Bulach, and the third run scored on the Cougars' second error of the inning. When the opening inning finally ended, so did Harding's day.

"That was health related," Caudill said. "He was dealing with some forearm and elbow-type pain. He's going to get checked out tomorrow, and we'll hope for good news.

"He's a big part of our team, and when he's walking people and doing those things that he did in the first inning, that's a sign of something being physically wrong."

Brandon Marcum came in and pitched well for the Cougars, throwing five innings of three-hit ball. But the Edgewood bats were no match for Bischoff.

"As well as he pitched, he actually pitched better last week," Rettinger said. "His pitch count was getting up, and we were counting him off. We were gonna go with Bulach and then close with Parks. But (Bischoff) threw a seven-pitch (fifth) inning, and he had a real quick sixth, too, so we stuck with him."

Chris Gaston gave the Rams an insurance run with an RBI single in the fourth, which ended up being the last hit of the day for either team.

Ross and Edgewood will meet again Wednesday at EHS, but first the Rams will play host to Clermont Northeastern in a nonleague contest today.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2193 or jmorrison@coxohio.com.

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