[Stardust]

Steven Tompkins says his Trinity High School baseball team is better than its record indicates, and on Wednesday the Shamrocks got a road victory in one of the state’s toughest venues.

Sophomore Sean Dageforde pitched a complete game, and Trinity took advantage of five Pleasure Ridge Park errors to post a 6-3 victory in a matchup of Top 25 teams.

No. 21 Trinity, which had lost eight of its previous 11 games, improved to 7-11.

“I don’t think it’s a matter of us struggling,” Tompkins said. “We play a tough schedule. We’ve given some games away, and we’ve had some games given to us. It’s all about getting to May 21 (the start of postseason play).”

The right-handed Dageforde allowed six hits and struck out four to improve to 3-0.

“Normally I’m more of a power pitcher, but I didn’t have that working for me today because of the low strike zone,” he said. “Basically I was trying to throw fastballs low in the zone, and my guys behind me did a great job in the field.”

The same couldn’t be said for PRP starter Andrew Bramley (1-2), whose teammates committed all five errors during his five innings of work.

After Monday’s 4-3 victory over rival Butler, the No. 14 Panthers (11-6) have dropped two straight games. Coach Bill Miller said lackluster defense has become a recurring theme.

“Tonight we made unforced errors,” he said. “They weren’t tough plays. They were easy plays.”

The Shamrocks built a 4-0 lead in the first, taking advantage of three Bramley walks, a wild pitch and two errors. His team already up 2-0, Grant Rohleder came to the plate with the bases loaded and two out and hit a grounder to third base. A bad throw allowed two more runs to score for a 4-0 lead.

Hunter Johnson’s RBI single and Cody Strong’s sacrifice fly pulled PRP within 4-2 in the bottom of the first, but Dageforde and the Trinity defense were solid from there.

Johnson’s RBI single to center cut it to 5-3 in the third and put runners on the corners with one out. Strong flied out to left field, and Rohleder’s strong throw to the plate doubled up Alex Miller to end the inning.

“The PRP guy hit it and I saw it go flying over my head and was thinking, ‘Great, we just gave up another run,’ ” Dageforde said. “Then I see this throw on a line and I’m thinking, ‘Maybe we have a chance.’ And he got him, and that sent chills through my body.”

Bobby Graven’s RBI single gave Trinity a 6-3 lead in the fifth before the Panthers mounted a final threat in the seventh. Joe Hatcher walked to lead off, and Josh Beams singled with two out to bring the tying run to the plate. But Dageforde got Blake Stewart to ground out to shortstop, ending the game.

“He had some great innings and not-so-great innings, but he’s a sophomore,” Tompkins said. “It’s a maturation process. You throw him to the wolves against a program like PRP and see how he’s going to do, and I thought he had a pretty solid performance.”

Trinity401 010 0 - 6 5 0PRP201 000 0 - 3 6 5WP – Dageforde (3-0). LP – Bramley (1-2). 2B – Miller (PRP).