ACME State Tournament
St. Henry 10, Bellefontaine 4
Bellefontaine’s return to the ACME State Tournament came to a heartbreaking end Saturday afternoon in Kalida, as defending state champion St. Henry erased a three-run deficit with a late offensive explosion to defeat the Chieftains 10-4.
For five innings, Bellefontaine controlled the game against one of the state’s premier programs.
Austin Kunk and Maddox Miller traded scoreless first innings before the Chieftains broke through in the second. Hayden Shreve came around to score the game’s first run, giving Bellefontaine a 1-0 advantage.
The Chiefs added to the lead in the third behind the hot bats of Aven Caudill and Lincoln Banta. Caudill lined a single to center before Banta drilled a double to the warning track in center field. Caudill later scored on a wild pitch, and Kunk escaped further trouble with a diving catch on a liner back to the mound to preserve a 2-0 lead.
Bellefontaine continued to apply pressure in the fifth.
Caudill worked a leadoff walk before Banta delivered his second double of the afternoon to put runners at second and third. Freshman Ean Fultz then lifted a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Caudill and stretching the Chieftain lead to 3-0 with just six outs remaining.
St. Henry, however, showed why it entered the tournament as the defending state champion.
The Redskins erupted for 10 runs over the final two innings, beginning with a four-run sixth.
After Tate Boeckman singled to open the inning, Drew Langenkamp worked a walk and Austin Kunk reached on another free pass to load the bases. Landen Schwartz was then hit by a pitch to force home St. Henry’s first run before Drew Buschur delivered the biggest hit of the inning, lining a bases-clearing double to right field to put the Redskins in front 4-3.
The rally continued as Nick Lefeld walked, Will Nietfeld drove in another run on a fielder’s choice, Boeckman walked, Cooper Laguire ripped a two-run double, Austin Kunk followed with a two-run single, and Schwartz added an RBI single as St. Henry finished the frame with a stunning 10-3 advantage.
Bellefontaine answered with one run in the bottom of the sixth when Aiden Smith singled, eventually scored on an error during Hudson Konz’s fielder’s choice, and cut the deficit to 10-4.
The Chiefs were unable to build any further momentum.
Ian Schwieterman retired the side in order in the seventh before Aiden Smith struck out the side in the top of the seventh to keep Bellefontaine alive. In the bottom of the seventh, Lincoln Banta grounded out, Ean Fultz popped out, and Hayden Shreve grounded out to shortstop as the Redskins closed out the comeback victory.
Kunk pitched into the fourth before Ian Schwieterman took over in relief and kept Bellefontaine in front through five innings. Aiden Smith finished the game on the mound, striking out Cooper Laguire to end the top of the seventh.
Offensively, Bellefontaine collected six hits. Banta led the way with two doubles, while Caudill reached base twice with a single and a walk and scored two of the Chiefs’ four runs. Smith added a single and scored, while Fultz drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Shreve also reached base with a walk.
For St. Henry, Buschur’s three-run double flipped the game, while Laguire doubled and drove in two runs. Austin Kunk added a two-run single during the six-run continuation of the sixth inning, and the Redskins capitalized on six walks and a hit batter during their late rally.
Despite the disappointing finish, Bellefontaine’s postseason run included its first ACME District championship since 2019 and its first trip to the ACME State Tournament in six years. The Chieftains held the defending champions scoreless through five innings before St. Henry’s championship experience ultimately proved to be the difference.
Bellefontaine closes its ACME season with plenty to be proud of after an impressive summer run that brought another district title back to the community.
