LIMA – Tonight’s matchup in the championship round of the ACME district baseball tournament at Lima Central Catholic’s Players Field, features two teams that traveled different paths.
Van Wert, last year’s ACME state champion, enters tonight’s championship game unblemished in the double-elimination district tournament.
Bath, who had to claw its way back after a loss in Monday’s first game, will be hoping to defeat the Cougars tonight at 6 p.m., forcing a decisive game on Wednesday.
However, all Van Wert needs tonight is a win in order to advance to the state tournament once again.
In Monday’s opener, Van Wert defeated Bath 3-1 to advance to tonight’s championship game.
In Monday’s nightcap, Bath stayed alive, erupting for five runs in the sixth inning to pull away for a 5-3 victory over Crestview, and stamping its ticket for a rematch with Van Wert.
Van Wert got a solid pitching performance from Lawson Blackmore in its victory over Bath on Monday.
Blackmore, who was battling back from some minor injuries, worked the entire seven innings for the win. Blackmore scattered eight hits, while striking out two and walking three. He threw a total of 108 pitches.
“He’s been out with some back issues,” Van Wert assistant coach Greg Blackmore said. “This was his first game back, and I’m proud of him. He did an outstanding job. He had some bad spots here and there, but he fought his way back and got through it all.”
Van Wert’s defense was solid all night as there were no errors committed in the game by the Cougars. The defense came up big when it needed to as Bath left a total of 10 baserunners stranded.
“You can’t go wrong with our defense,” Blackmore said. “They did an outstanding job today. We’ve been having some issues with that (defense), but they did an outstanding job. This was a good win.”
Offensively, Van Wert (16-6) pounded seven hits off Bath pitcher Ryan Gossard.
Caleb Fetzer and Nate Temple each had two hits for Van Wert. Teammate Mason Carr had a double.
Gossard pitched well for the Wildcats (16-6), striking out four and walking two in his complete-game effort on the mound.
At the plate, Gossard went 3-for-5 to lead the way. Teammates Logan Williams and Logan Magrum each had two hits for Bath.
Defensively, Bath struggled, committing five errors against the Cougars.
In the second game, Bath was down 3-0 to Crestview, heading into the top of the sixth.
Bath pounded five hits off Crestview pitching in the sixth. Crestview starter Tanner Crowle was pulled in the sixth with one out, and Zach Simerman came over from his second base position to take over the pitching duties.
Before the sixth, Crowle seemed to be in control, holding Bath to no runs on just two hits.
“They put the bat on the ball,” Crestview coach Jeff Helm said. “Tanner (Crowle) might have been running out of gas, but we felt good after the first visit to the mound (in the sixth). He said he felt good. He tried to gut it out. You have to give it to Bath. They put the bat on the ball.”
Leading the way for Bath at the plate against Crestview was Isaiah Bolon and Logan Williams, who each collected two hits. Teammate Elijah Mather had a big hit in the sixth, a double to left that scored two runs.
Chad Frey pitched all seven innings for Bath, giving up just three hits, while striking out four, walking two and hitting two batters.
“We waited a long time to start swinging the sticks,” Bath coach Andy Shafer said. “But, we were seeing some good pitches. We put the bat on the ball, but the ball wasn’t bouncing our way. That was a tough way to lose in the first one. We out-hit them. We had a couple base-running mistakes. Van Wert’s a good team; the WBL is strong.
“But, we’re seeing these guys (Crestview) for the second time. They saw our lineup yesterday (in a Bath win) and knew what was coming. I came in there at the top of the sixth and I told them, I said ‘Hey fellas, this is it. Either we come out and we hit the ball, or we go home until next spring.’
“They responded well and had a couple big hits.”
District 2 ACME Tournament
HAMLER — Ottawa-Glandorf beat Patrick Henry, 9-2, Monday night and Archbold will battle Ottawa-Glandorf in the finals at 6 p.m. Tuesday. If Archbold wins, they will advance to the state tournament. If Ottawa-Glandorf wins there will be a take all game on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
