LIMA – The Lima Locos welcomed the playoffs with open arms.
The Locos jumped down on the accelerator and ran past St. Clair (Windsor, Ontario) 7-0 in Game 1 of the best-of-three semifinal series Wednesday at Simmons Field.
Locos starter right-hander Colin Gossard (Findlay/Bath) was masterful through seven innings to power the Locos.
Chandler Stillings finished it off with two shutout innings. The two combined on a three-hitter.
“The fashion that we win I’m not as concerned about, as much as we came out and got the first win,’’ Locos coach Brian Garman said. “To go on the road tomorrow with a lead is obviously huge and we’ll try to wrap it up tomorrow. If not, I have plenty of confidence of coming home for Game 3.
The Locos take a 1-0 series lead in the best-of-three Great Lakes Collegiate League semifinal series.
Game 2 is set for 7 p.m. tonight at Flat Rock Park in Flat Rock, Mich.
“We put a four spot in the third inning and we put some pressure on them early,” Garman said. “I thought the guys did a great job tonight.’’
Gossard took a no-hitter into the sixth and held until there were two outs in the sixth when Nichols Howie singled behind second base.
Gossard tossed seven shutout innings, giving up two hits. He struck six and walked three. Gossard threw 98 pitches, 62 for strikes.
Gossard started slow, walking the first hitter and had three walks in the first three innings. But each inning he was able to pitch out of trouble until he hit cruise-control mode in the fourth.
“I knew he would work out of it and had confidence he would work out of it,” Garman said. “I thought he did a great job tonight and had command of his breaking ball as the game went on.’’
Gossard said, “It’s playoff time and pitching in front of my hometown and I was definitely excited and anxious to get out there. Our bats started working early and I settled in from there.’’
He used his fastball (at 92 mph), a breaking ball and change-up to do the damage.
“My arm has been feeling great all summer. I felt pretty good all-around tonight,” Gossard said. “My curveball was working nice and if I needed to, my change-up was there.’’
On offense, Garrett Hodges had a double and two RBI. Will Kilgore went 2 for 3 with a double. J.T. Thomas went 2 for 3 with two RBI.
The Locos also had several nice plays on defense, including turning two double plays. Shortstop Tyler Tolbert played his usual standout defense in flagging down balls deep in the hole.
The Locos scored one in the first, one in the second and four in the third to take a 6-0 lead after three.
Ross Adolph led off the game with a double to the center-field fence. He went to third on Josh DeBacker and scored on Hodges RBI groundout to second.
The Locos made it 2-0 in the second on a double steal. Tolbert, who was on first, got in a rundown off a pickoff throw at first. Suddenly, Stephen Dobbs hustled home from third to make it 2-0.
The Locos added four in the third inning. St. Clair helped the Locos with two errors in the third.
DeBacker reached on an error and scored on an RBI double by Hodges to make it 3-0.
Jeddediah Fagg’s RBI sacrifice fly to right gave the Locos a 4-0 lead. Thomas delivered and RBI single to left and it was 5-0.
Lima made it 6-0 when Thomas scored on a wild throw to first by the St. Clair third baseman.
Thomas’ RBI single in the fifth gave the Locos a 7-0 lead.
If the Locos advance to the best of three championship series, Gossard said he’ll be ready.
“If they call my name, I’ll try my best to ready for them,” he said.
Locos notes: The Locos and St. Clair (Windsor, Ontario) didn’t meet during the regular season. St. Clair (22-19) finished second in the Northern Division. The Green Giants are coming off a 6-0 victory over Lake Erie on Tuesday.
The Locos were seventh in hitting (.272) and first in pitching (3.22 ERA). St. Clair was 13th in hitting (.256) and seventh in pitching (4.79).
St. Clair was led on offense by Adam Tanoue (.342) and Conor Mckenna (.340). Max Ayarza hit .278 and led the team with four home runs. Nicholas Howie hit .264 and led the team with 32 RBI. Howie and Jalen Thomas both had nine
doubles. Thomas hit .283. … On the mound the Green Giants were led by Hunter Brown (5-2, 2.33) and Tyler Whitbred (4-2, 2.37), who posted the playoff win over Lake Erie. Brad Verel was 5-5 with a 4.68. Kevin Kyle had five saves and a 5.25.
The Locos set the team record for wins in the regular season with a 30-11 record. That broke the previous mark of 29-14 set in 2011.
Up next: Game 2 is set for 7 p.m. tonight at Flat Rock Park in Flat Rock, Mich., the home of Lake Erie. Non-Michigan teams will not travel to Canada this season because of passport issues. Game 3, if necessary, will be at 7 p.m. Friday at Simmons Field.
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