Jr. ACME District Final
Van Buren 7, Bellefontaine 4
The Bellefontaine Chieftain Jr. ACME baseball team’s postseason run came to an end Wednesday night in Wapakoneta, falling 7-4 to Van Buren in the District Final.
Bellefontaine struck first in the opening inning. Rowen Daring led off with a single before Sammy Strayer and Sennett Stolly followed with back-to-back hits to put runners on the corners. With two outs, Strayer scored on a wild pitch to give the Chiefs a 1-0 advantage.
Van Buren answered in the bottom of the first. Three walks loaded the bases before a line-drive single up the middle tied the game at 1-1.
After a scoreless second inning, Bellefontaine regained the lead in the third. Strayer reached on a leadoff single and was replaced by courtesy runner Bennett Lang. Hudson Banta later singled to put runners on first and second before Keaton DiNovo’s sacrifice bunt advanced both runners. Stolly eventually scored on a passed ball, putting the Chiefs back in front 2-1.
Van Buren responded with three straight scoring innings. A leadoff single, stolen base and Bellefontaine error helped tie the game before an RBI single gave Van Buren its first lead at 3-2 in the third. Another two-out RBI single in the fourth extended the advantage to 4-2.
Bellefontaine trimmed the deficit in the fifth. Daring singled, stole second and advanced to third on a groundout before scoring on an infield error off the bat of Stolly, making it 4-3. The Chiefs threatened to tie the game but a double play ended the inning.
Van Buren answered again in the bottom half of the fifth. After a leadoff walk and sacrifice bunt, an RBI single pushed the lead to 5-3 before a bases-loaded walk forced home another run for a 6-3 advantage.
The Chiefs scratched across another run in the sixth. Dean Buffkin reached on a fielder’s choice, Graycen Gross was hit by a pitch, and Ryder Brown reached on an error that allowed Buffkin to score from first, cutting the deficit to 6-4.
Van Buren added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth on a wild pitch with the bases loaded, stretching its lead back to three runs.
Bellefontaine’s final rally never materialized in the seventh. Strayer drew a leadoff walk, but Stolly grounded into a double play before the final batter struck out, sealing Van Buren’s 7-4 victory and district championship.
Daring and Strayer each collected two hits to lead the Bellefontaine offense, while Stolly, Banta and Buffkin added one hit apiece. Stolly drove in the Chiefs’ lone RBI as four different Bellefontaine players scored.
Daring started on the mound and worked 4 1/3 innings, allowing six runs, five earned, on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Colson Garver recorded one strikeout in relief, and Gross pitched the final 1 1/3 innings, allowing one earned run while striking out two.
With the win, Van Buren advances to the ACME State Tournament, while Bellefontaine’s postseason concludes with a runner-up finish in the district tournament.
