Urbana 8, Bellefontaine 6
A rivalry game stretched across two days before Urbana held off Bellefontaine for an 8-6 win in a dramatic finish.
The full replay of the entire game will soon be available on PeakofOhioTV.
The Hillclimbers came out hot Monday night. Bentley Cordial reached on an error to open the game, setting up Grady Lantz, who blasted a two-run home run to left for an early 2-0 lead. Urbana added another later in the inning when Kevin Endres singled, Austin Hill followed with a hit, and Jackson Stacy doubled up the middle to score Endres and make it 3-0.
From there, Endres dominated on the mound. Over the next two innings, he allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out six, fanning two batters in each frame and keeping Bellefontaine quiet.
The Chieftains finally broke through in the fourth. After two quick outs, Spencer Stolly was hit by a pitch and stole second before Lincoln Banta singled him home. Sammy Kline followed with a single, moving Banta to third, and Banta later scored on a throwing error by the catcher to cut Urbana’s lead to 3-2.
With Kline on third representing the tying run and a 2-0 count at the plate, worsening weather suspended play until the next day.
When action resumed on Tuesday, both teams adjusted. B.J. Potter took over on the mound for Urbana, while Nicholas Beair entered to pitch for Bellefontaine.
The Chiefs grabbed their first lead in the fifth. Zyler Huffman reached on an error, Patrick Stolly got aboard on a fielder’s choice, and after a sacrifice bunt, Cayleb Overmann doubled to left to drive in two runs and put Bellefontaine ahead 4-3.
Urbana answered immediately. Carter Houseman tripled to lead off the bottom of the fifth and scored on a wild pitch, tying the game at 4-4.
The biggest moment came in the sixth. Sammy Kline singled and stole second before Huffman lined a two-out single to right. Kline appeared to score the go-ahead run, but after an appeal from Urbana coach Evan Petty claiming Kline missed home plate, the umpires overturned the run following a lengthy discussion, controversially ending the inning with the score still tied.
That momentum swing proved huge. In the bottom half, Austin Hill reached on a dropped third strike, and after a fielder’s choice and a hit batter, Urbana capitalized on a Bellefontaine error to take the lead. The Hillclimbers then added three straight RBI singles from Houseman, Cordial, and Lantz to suddenly jump ahead 8-4.
Bellefontaine made one final push in the seventh. After two quick outs, Overmann walked and Aven Caudill doubled, setting up Spencer Stolly for a two-run double to cut it to 8-6 and bring the tying run to the plate.
Lincoln Banta then hit a sharp grounder down the first base line that clipped the top of the bag, but bounced directly to Kevin Endres at first for the final out, sealing Urbana’s win.
Lantz led Urbana with two hits and three RBIs, while Houseman added two hits and scored twice. Bellefontaine got two hits from Kline, while Overmann and Stolly each drove in two.
Urbana improves to 11-5, while Bellefontaine falls to 7-8. The rivals meet again on Wednesday in Bellefontaine.
Riverside 12, Northridge 2 (6 innings)
Riverside put together a complete performance in a 12-2 run-rule win over Northridge.
Syler Clark starred on the mound, tossing a six-inning complete game while allowing no earned runs on four hits and one walk. He struck out 12 in another dominant outing.
The Pirates struck first in the opening inning. Clark walked, stole second and third, and scored on an RBI single from Camden Shoe.
Riverside broke the game open in the third with six runs. Cooper Crouch and Clark opened the inning with singles before Tony Robinson walked to load the bases. Colton Hurley, Hayden McCully, and Bryson Eaton each drew RBI walks to force in runs, and a sacrifice fly from David Gross plus RBI singles from Brody Orsborn and Crouch pushed the lead to 7-0.
Northridge got on the board in the third, but Riverside answered with two more. Clark scored on a groundout, and Shoe later came home on an error for a 9-1 advantage.
After Northridge added another run in the fifth, the Pirates enforced the run rule in the sixth. With the bases loaded, Hurley drew another RBI walk, Shoe scored on a wild pitch, and Robinson came home on a passed ball.
Clark then shut the door in the bottom half to complete the win.
Hurley drove in three runs, while Crouch collected three hits. Clark also helped himself offensively, finishing 2-for-2 with four runs scored.
Riverside improves to 13-4 and will host Troy Christian on Thursday.
West Liberty-Salem 10, Northeastern 4
West Liberty-Salem used a big offensive night from Reese Oder to knock off Northeastern 10-4.
Oder finished with four hits and three RBIs to lead the Tigers.
West Liberty-Salem got rolling in the second inning. Josiah Johnson and Brandel Sullivan singled to open the frame, and Beckett Sullivan drove in a run with a groundout. Brandel later scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0.
The Tigers added another in the third when Isaac Sertell tripled and later scored on an RBI single from Oder.
A four-run fourth inning broke the game open. Timmy Howells singled in a run, Sertell added another hit, and Braden Hershberger ripped a two-run double to stretch the lead to 6-0.
West Liberty-Salem added another on an error in the fifth, then extended the lead to 8-0 in the sixth when Oder doubled and later scored on a Jeremiah Johnson double.
Oder was strong on the mound as well, tossing five scoreless innings while allowing just four baserunners and striking out three.
Northeastern rallied in the sixth, using four hits, a walk, an error, and some wild pitches to cut the lead to 8-4.
The Tigers responded in the seventh with two insurance runs, highlighted by another RBI single from Oder.
Josiah Johnson closed things out in the seventh to finish the win.
Along with Oder, Sertell, Jeremiah Johnson, and Howells, each recorded multiple hits.
West Liberty-Salem improves to 8-7 and will face Northeastern again Thursday.
Northwestern 9, Indian Lake 1
Indian Lake stayed close through six innings before Northwestern pulled away late for a 9-1 win.
The Warriors scored first in the opening inning after an error by the Laker pitcher helped bring home a run. Northwestern doubled the lead in the third, loading the bases with three straight singles before scoring on a sacrifice fly.
Indian Lake answered in the bottom of the third. Nixon Lillard and Cooper Hall both walked, and Brady Golliday lined a ball to center that was dropped, allowing a run to score and cutting the deficit to 2-1.
The middle innings were controlled by both pitching staffs. Indian Lake stranded the bases loaded in both the second and fourth innings, missing opportunities to even the score.
Northwestern also threatened in the sixth, loading the bases, but Golliday worked out of the jam with timely groundouts to keep it a one-run game.
The game unraveled in the seventh. Northwestern loaded the bases with three straight hit batters, then used a combination of walks, errors, and a two-run single to score seven runs and break it open.
Reed Strayer had Indian Lake’s lone hit, a single in the fourth.
Indian Lake falls to 7-8 and will begin a two-game series with Graham on Wednesday.
