Back-to-back fives lead Mount Gilead over Danville, 12-5
Mount Gilead came back from an early 1-0 deficit and used back-to-back five-run innings to discharge the Danville Blue Devils, 12-5, April 17.
Danville used two singles, a walk and an error to go up 1-0 in the first, but the Indians came right back on two errors, two walks and a double play to take the lead, 2-1. In the second, the Indians put up five on two walks, a single by Carson Van Hoose to load the bases, a bases-clearing double by Tyler McKinney, a single by Nick Garvey, a steal of home by McKinney and a sacrifice fly by Paul Butterman.
Danville responded with three runs in the third. Dustin Beckett was hit by a pitch and with one out, Kendall Carter walked. Wyatt Weckesser was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Walker Weckesser grounded into a fielder’s choice to score a run. Two errors brought in two more Danville runs to cut the Indians’ lead to 7-4.
Mount Gilead put another five in the board in the bottom of the third on three consecutive hit batsmen (Van Hoose, McKinney and Carter Kennon), a run-scoring ground out by Garvey, an RBI single by Butterman, a double by Jonny Martinez that plated a run and a sacrifice fly by Cameron Vickers to make it 11-4. Graham Sherbourne added the fifth run of the inning on a two-out single.
Each team connected for nine hits. Mount Gilead was led by Martinez and Sherbourne with two hits each, and Danville’s Aaron Mezie smacked out two. McKinney drove in three runs to lead Mount Gilead, with teammates Garvey and Butterman each plating a pair. Carter had two EBIs for the Devils.
Highland Scots score eight in first, tame Galion Tigers, 17-2
The Highland Scots started with an eight-run first inning and cruised to a 17-2 shellacking of the Galion Tigers on April 27.
Rider Minnick was one of Highland’s hitting and pitching stars, as he went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and four RBIs and earned the win on the mound, tossing three innings, allowing one run on three hits while striking out four.
The big first inning for Highland started with a lead-off single by Minnick. With one out, Zach Pinkerton doubled in Minnick. Two hit batters and an error made it 2-0, and Jace Brooks singled in two to make it 4-0. Cooper Merckling doubled in two more runs, and Minnick got his second hit of the inning with a run-scoring single to move Highland ahead 7-0. Minnick scored on a two-out single by Brock Church for the eighth run.
The Scots made it 10-1 after two and 15-1 after three, when substitutions took their places in the lineup.
Joining Minnick in Highland’s 14-hit attack were nine teammates who got hits. Among them, Pinkerton, Brooks and Merckling each connected twice, and Jon Jensen equaled Minnick’s four RBIs.
Lemaster’s two-hitter, Reynolds’ four RBIs lead Trojans over Knights, 12-0
Daniel Lemaster pitched a two-hit shutout, and the Centerburg Trojans made their five hits count as they scored 12 runs to lance the Northmor’s Golden Knights, 12-0, April 27.
Grayson Reynolds took care of the offense for Centerburg with three hits and four RBIs, and the Trojans also reached base on six walks, five hit batters and four Golden Knight errors.
Centerburg took a 2-0 lead in the first on one hit, a lead-off double by Dakota Baer. Jarred Rings was hit by a pitch, and the two Trojans completed a double steal. With one out, Dalton Hall’s sacrifice fly scored the first run, and an error plated run No. 2. The Trojans added two in the second, again on only one hit. A two-out walk, two hit batters and a two-run single by Reynolds made it 4-0, Trojans.
A five-run Trojan sixth put the game on ice, and they only had one hit during that rally as well. A hit batter, an error and a fielder’s choice tallied the first run, and a ground out increased the lead to 6-0. The only hit of the inning, a triple by Rings, brought in two runners, and an error put across the final run of the inning.
Lemaster threw 100 pitches in his complete game shutout, walking three and striking out 10.
Andrew Armrose and Mathew Kearns each got a hit for Northmor.
Lester’s two blasts, 11-run first fire Freddies over Pirates, 16-1
Brady Lester provided the firepower with two home runs, a double and five RBIs, and Ben Mast pitched a masterful five innings, allowing one run while striking out eight, as Fredericktown rode an 11-run first inning to a 16-1 striking of the Cardington-Lincoln Pirates.
The game-clinching first started with a lead-off home run to right by Lester. A single by Kaid Carpenter and a one-out run-scoring single by Braden Sapp made it 2-0. A single by Korbin McGowan and a hit batter loaded the bases. Luke Bean’s two-run single made it 4-0, and Teegan Ruhl singled in another run. A one-run single by Alex Selby and a two-run double by Lester made it 8-0. Carpenter doubled in a run, and an error on a hard grounder hit by Trevor Jobes put runners at first and third. Carpenter stole home, and then Jobes stole home for 11 runs in the first inning.
Fredericktown outhit C-L 17-4, Carpenter joined Lester with three hits, and both scored three runs. The Freddies ran wild on the base paths with nine stolen bases – Luke Bean, Carpenter and Jobes each stole a pair.
