Urbana 16, Southeastern 0 (5 innings)
Urbana continued its red-hot finish to the regular season, extending its winning streak to 15 games with a dominant 16-0 run-rule victory over Southeastern in five innings.
The Hillclimbers controlled the game from the very beginning behind a historic performance on the mound from Bj Potter. Potter threw all five innings and recorded a no-hitter while striking out 12 of the 15 outs he recorded. He struck out the side in both the third and fifth innings to cap off the dominant outing.
Urbana’s offense backed him up immediately and scored in every inning of the game.
Carter Houseman opened the first inning with a single, then with one out, Grady Lantz started a huge day at the plate by ripping an RBI triple into the gap in center field to score Houseman. Lantz later scored on a Kevin Endres single to center as Urbana grabbed a quick 2-0 lead.
The Hillclimbers added four more runs in both the second and third innings to break the game open.
In the second, Houseman singled home Austin Hill before Colton Roberts scored on a pickoff error by the Trojan catcher. Lantz later doubled to center to score Houseman, and Tate Lantz followed with an RBI single to right to bring home his brother and make it 6-0.
Urbana kept rolling in the third after loading the bases with the first three batters of the inning. Grady Lantz delivered again with a two-run single up the middle, then Endres followed with a two-run single of his own as the Hillclimbers stretched the lead to 10-0 after three innings.
The Climbers added another run in the fourth when Lukas King reached on a two-out single and Roberts later scored on an error.
Urbana then sealed the run-rule win with five more runs in the fifth. Trevon Prater singled and later scored on a Bentley Cordial RBI single to center. Larkin Moore added another RBI single later in the inning before Potter helped himself with a two-run double. Roberts capped the scoring with an RBI double to center.
Grady Lantz led the offense with a perfect 3-for-3 day and four RBIs. Urbana finished with 18 hits as a team, with all but one of the 14 batters recording a hit.
Potter’s no-hit performance headlined the night as Urbana improved to 20-5 heading into Monday’s regular season finale against 20-3 Arcanum.
Benjamin Logan 8, Pleasant 2
Benjamin Logan closed out the regular season with a strong 8-2 victory over Pleasant Friday night.
The Raiders had chances early but stranded runners in both the first and second innings before Pleasant struck first in the top of the second on a pair of Benjamin Logan errors.
The Raiders finally answered in the bottom of the third. The first three batters reached to load the bases before Adam Tinsman delivered a two-run double into left field to give Benjamin Logan its first lead at 2-1.
The Raiders added three more runs in the fourth inning to take control. Soli Hughes doubled to center to score Oliver Morse, then with two outs, Parker Yelton ripped an RBI triple and Cohen Archer later drew a bases-loaded walk to extend the lead to 5-1.
Benjamin Logan added the final three runs in the fifth, all with two outs. Morse singled and eventually scored on an RBI single from Xavier Allen. Yelton followed with another hit before Tinsman lined a two-run double to center to make it 8-1.
Tinsman also starred on the mound, allowing just one unearned run on three hits and two walks while striking out six. Jacob Hawley pitched the seventh inning in relief, allowing one run on two hits while striking out one.
Offensively, Tinsman finished with four RBIs on a two-hit day. Yelton turned in a perfect 4-for-4 performance, while Hughes added two hits.
Benjamin Logan closes the regular season at 15-7 and will open tournament play against Northwestern in the district quarterfinals on Wednesday, May 20.
River Valley 8, Bellefontaine 6
Bellefontaine’s late comeback effort came up just short Friday night as the Chieftains fell to River Valley 8-6.
The Vikings struck first in the opening inning after a pair of one-out hits put runners in scoring position. One run scored on a pickoff error from the Bellefontaine catcher, and another crossed the plate on a steal of home to make it 2-0.
Bellefontaine starter Aiden Smith settled in during the second inning, working around another one-out double and quickly picking the runner off to keep the deficit at two.
The Chieftains got on the board in the bottom of the second after loading the bases. Lincoln Banta scored on a fielder’s choice to shortstop to trim the lead to 2-1.
River Valley responded in a big way over the next two innings. The Vikings added another run in the third on a two-out triple, then exploded for four runs in the fourth. Three runs scored following a pair of Bellefontaine errors before another crossed on a two-out single to left, stretching the lead to 7-1.
Bellefontaine slowly chipped away at the deficit.
Sammy Kline led off the fourth with a single and eventually scored on an RBI groundout from Smith. In the fifth, Sutton Daring walked, stole second, advanced on a wild pitch, and later scored on another RBI groundout from Cayleb Overmann to make it 7-3.
River Valley added an insurance run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly after loading the bases.
The Chieftains answered again in the bottom half. Kline worked a one-out walk before Nicholas Beair ripped an RBI triple into deep left field. Beair later scored on a ground ball from Zyler Huffman to cut the deficit to 8-5 after six innings.
Bellefontaine made one final push in the seventh. Daring battled through an eight-pitch at-bat before being hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, then later scored on a sacrifice fly to center. However, the Vikings retired the next hitters to close out the win.
Kline led the Chieftain offense by going 2-for-2 with two runs scored, while Smith drove in a pair of runs.
Bellefontaine closes the regular season Saturday against Fort Loramie.
Bethel 15, Indian Lake 6
Indian Lake dropped its regular season finale Friday night, falling to Bethel 15-6.
The Bees grabbed control early, scoring two runs in each of the first two innings behind aggressive baserunning, a pair of triples, and multiple Laker errors.
Indian Lake answered in the bottom of the second when Dawson Stevenson delivered a two-out RBI single to score Lane Kipker.
After Bethel added another run in the third on a sacrifice fly, the Lakers cut into the deficit in the bottom half. Chance Persinger came through with a two-out, two-run double to right field to pull Indian Lake within 5-3 after three innings.
Bethel’s offense continued to surge in the fourth, scoring four more runs with two outs. A two-run double, RBI single, and an error on a pickoff attempt helped the Bees build a 9-3 lead.
Indian Lake answered with three runs of its own in the bottom of the inning. Braden Tussing delivered a pinch-hit, two-run single to center before Aaron Rapp added another RBI single to make it 9-6.
That would be as close as the Lakers would get.
Indian Lake managed only three baserunners over the final three innings while Bethel scored three runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to seal the 15-6 victory.
Persinger and Tussing each drove in two runs to lead the Lakers offensively, while Tussing also collected two hits.
Indian Lake ends the regular season at 10-13 and will face West Liberty-Salem in the district quarterfinals on Thursday, May 21.
