THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 2000
Baseball
Late inning rally propels St. Wendelin to upset
FOSTORIA -- St. Wendelin had as much trouble hitting New Riegel's Keith Laughlin as anyone else, only mustering six hits, but four of those hits came in a four-run sixth inning that helped the Mohawks beat the Blue Jackets, 6-3.
"It's been an up and down year, and we've been dealing with having a young team all season long, but the kids didn't second-guess themselves tonight," St. Wendelin coach Paul Feasel said. "They know now that they can play with anyone, and beating a team as good as New Riegel is has given them that confidence.
"Sean Reiter did everything we asked him to do on the mound tonight. We've been needing someone to step forward at crunch time and say 'give me the ball and let's go,' and that's exactly what he did. We also played some very nice defense behind him."
Reiter improved to 3-2, striking out five and walking two. Laughlin fell to 4-1, getting seven strikeouts and walking five. New Riegel takes a 6-1 league record and a 13-2 overall mark in to a game at Hopewell-Loudon today. St. Wendelin is 6-8 and 3-3 in the league going in to a non-league game with Northwood today.
Shannon Dixie's run scoring pop single in the sixth put SW up for good, Ryan Smith followed with a two-run double, all coming with two outs. Dixie (two RBIs, run) had a double as one of his two hits. Reiter (run), Jon Faber and Mike Meyers (run) added hits. Jon Noe scored three runs, and Brett Taylor had an RBI.
Laughlin's two-run triple in the fourth inning put New Riegel ahead 3-1. Brett Hammer singled and scored a run, and the only other hit Reiter allowed was a base hit to Jon Kauffman. Jason Humphrey and Paul Borer scored runs for NR.
Senecas hand NB first league loss
Dustyn Risner and Jon Raitz led off the seventh inning with hits for Calvert, and a Joe Harvey shot to left-center field sealed North Baltimore's first league loss as the Senecas beat the Tigers, 4-3.
"I'd like to see us hit the ball harder, but we still got it done when we needed to," Calvert coach Rick Demith said. "Both of the runs we had in the last two innings were set up by the bunt, which was nice to see because we executed. We didn't put a solid ball in play in the last three innings.
"We struggled defensively in the fourth inning, but from that point Dustyn just took the game into his own hands. He was unhittable. They were the best three innings he's pitched all year. This game is definitely something we're going to have to build on from here on out."
Calvert had tied the game in the sixth. Tim Brodman reached on a passed ball and was sacrificed to second by Robbie Ritzler. Brodman went to third on a ground out and scored on a single by Eric Puffenberger.
Harvey and Ritzler (triple, two runs) had two hits each for the Senecas, who are 6-6 overall and 2-3 in the MAL. Scott Frank added an RBI.
Risner (2-3) struck out nine and walked two in a three-hitter. Nate Krassow took the loss in relief of starter Aaron Heyman for the Tigers (8-4, 6-1).
Calvert plays at Colonel Crawford Saturday.
Chieftains get first league win
BASCOM -- Hopewell-Loudon scored four runs in the fifth inning and three runs in the sixth inning, then held off a late charge from Mohawk in a 10-8 win over the Warriors.
Andy Brickner and Brandon Deck had home runs for the winners, who improve to 4-8 overall and 1-4 in the MAL while dumping Mohawk to 6-10 and 2-3. Brickner had Jason Thompson added triples, and Brett Taylor and Neil Harber hit doubles for H-L, which had 13 hits.
"The bottom part of our lineup did a great job helping us get back in this game," Hopewell-Loudon coach Craig Lang said. "We were down 5-0 and we just started chipping away. Jason Thompson had a big day, and Nathan Brickner threw his third good game in a row for us."
Harber had three hits and two runs for the winners, while Andy Brickner (two runs, two RBIs), Thompson (two runs, two RBIs), Taylor (three RBIs) and Deck (run, RBI) had two hits each. Todd Elchert had a hit and a run.
In addition to singling and driving in a run, Nathan Brickner moved his pitching record to 2-1 by striking out four and walking four. Mark Gaietto took the loss in 5 2/3 innings, getting five strikeouts and walking two.
Offensively for the Warriors, Grant Good hit two doubles, scored three runs and drove in three runs. Four of Mohawk's seven hits were doubles, as Zack Hufford (run, three RBIs) and Nate Lofay (run) also cracked two-baggers. Zack Ekleberry had two hits and a run, Chad Sowers (two runs, RBI) and T.J. Marcotte (run) singled, and Gaietto scored two runs.
Hopewell-Loudon entertains New Riegel today. Mohawk is off until Saturday, when it goes to Marion River Valley for a doubleheader.
Seven-run inning seals deal for SE
ATTICA -- A seven-run sixth inning put an exclamation point on Seneca East's 10th win in as many games and fifth league win, a 15-7 triumph over Old Fort.
Old Fort (4-8, 3-4 MAL), started well with three runs out of the gate, but Seneca East scored three in the first, and never trailed again after a four-run second inning.
Mike Risner had four RBIs in the sixth inning for the Tigers, who batted around in the inning. Risner hit a two-run homer in his first trip to the plate and a two-run single on his second try. Kurt Weaver hit a 3-run shot in the second for SE, Mike Breyman hit two doubles and Nate Leber also doubled.
"We had some great performances off the bench today," Seneca East coach Frank Lamoreaux said. "It was a tight game the first five innings, and Old Fort played really well, but they walked us 12 times and we were able to use those to our advantage. Old Fort didn't make a lot of mistakes, and they kept us off balance much of the time."
Weaver (three runs, four RBI) and Breyman (two runs, two RBIs) had three hits each for the Tigers, and Breyman's 3-for-3 raised his average to .909. Two hits each came from Risner and Rusty Wagner (run, two RBIs).
Leber scored three runs to go with a hit and an RBI, and Jason Burkholder scored three runs. Leif Fortney knocked in a run, and Brian Bischoff and Dustin Alt scored runs.
Fortney (4-0) was the winning pitcher, getting three to strike out in four innings. Burkholder threw on inning, and Breyman got the save with three strikeouts in two innings. Jason Stallard took the loss for Old Fort, and Nick Kerlin threw the final two innings.
Kerlin and Nate Cleveland homered for the Stockaders, both of them two-run shots. Aaron Burks was 3-for-4 with a double, a run and an RBI, and Nick Margraf doubled, singled and scored a run.
Matt Hoke had a base hit, a run and an RBI, Chad DeMonte added a hit, and Jason Stallard and Cliff Cleveland scored runs.
Crestline comes to Seneca East today. Old Fort is at home today against Wynford.
FREMONT -- Fremont St. Joseph's Jimmy Haas, who came in to the game against Bettsville with just six RBIs for the season, had eight in one game in helping the Crimson Streaks edge the Bobcats, 12-8.
Bettsville (4-7-1, 0-5 MAL) pitching had a shutout through three innings, and the Bobcats held an 8-5 advantage after putting four runs on the board in the top of the sixth. Haas would hit a grand slam to serve as a the centerpiece for a seven-run St. Joe sixth. Haas was 3-for-4 with two runs, and two of his hits were homers.
Nick Baker had two runs and three RBIs, and had a home runs as one of his two hits for Bettsville, which outhit St. Joe (7-5, 5-1), 11-8. Josh Schumm connected on a two-run homer, and Jon Rollins (two runs, RBI) doubled.
Eddie Sisco had two hits, a run and two RBIs for Bettsville, and Joe Kizer singled twice and scored a run. Paul Yeakle, Don Lawrence and Justin Harrison (run) added singleds.
Harrison took the loss on the mound, and Sisco, Rollins and Jeremy Schumm also threw. Matt Gabel improved to 2-2 with the win.
Bettsville hosts Buckeye Central in a doubleheader Saturday.
Late rally not enough for Raiders
MILLBURY -- Lakota got back in to a game it was out of, scoring nine runs in the seventh inning to tie the score, but Lake scored with one out in the bottom half of the inning to beat the Raiders, 13-12.
Lake scored six runs in the second inning to help it to an 8-1 lead before Lakota stormed back. The Raiders (7-10, 2-6 Suburban Lakes League) host Northwood Friday before going to the Old Fort Sectional Saturday for a noon contest with Eastwood.
Fred Keith (4-1) took the loss for Lakota, his first of the season. John Sander was 2-for-3 with three RBIs, and Kris Brubaker did his part by going 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Steve Adams doubled in a pair of runs.
Lakota outhit Lake 11-9, but committed five errors.