Leipsic’s Nick Schroeder pitches against Patrick Henry during Friday’s Division IV district final at Garrold Parratt Field.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
HAMLER – There was lightning in Patrick Henry’s bats early and a flash of lighting in the sky later in Leipsic’s 13-5 win over Patrick Henry in a Division IV baseball district championship game on Friday.
But neither of those obstacles, or any others, could stand in the way of the Vikings (24-2) getting their district title once their offense began to roll and Nick Schroeder went to the mound.
After falling behind 5-1 in the middle of the third inning, Leipsic scored seven runs in the fourth inning and got four more runs in the sixth inning and pounded out 13 hits in the game.
And Schroeder allowed no runs and just one hit over the final 4 1/3 innings of the game after following starter John Dewar and reliever Tyler Lammers to the mound during the third inning.
Leipsic will play Riverdale (23-6) at 2 p.m., next Thursday in a regional semifinal at Elida. Fort Recovery and Montpelier will play the other Elida regional semifinal at 5 p.m., next Thursday.
“We knew 5-1 was not looking good but these veteran guys knew to just chip away, stay at it and chip away. But I didn’t know if we’d be able to stop them from scoring. And then we did,” Leipsic coach Darren Henry said.
“Luckily we got some huge at bats in that inning when we scored all those runs,” he said. “I think that really got us fired up and maybe took a little of the wind out of their sails.”
Leipsic was down 5-2 when the bottom of the fourth inning began and up 9-5 when it was over.
The first seven Vikings hitters in the fourth inning reached base – four of them on walks — and all seven scored.
The biggest hit might have been a three-run double by Tommy Offenbacher which gave Leipsic a 7-5 lead, its first lead since it had gone up 1-0 in the first inning.
Quin Schroeder, Trent Siefker, Tyler Lammers, Colin Niese and Nick Schroeder all had two hits for Leipsic.
A flash of lightning and a brief downpour interrupted Leipsic’s big fourth inning for 20 minutes but the Vikings appeared unaffected by the delay. They scored twice in the fourth inning on a double by Niese after the delay and added four more runs in the sixth inning.
Vikings rally past Lincolnview
HAMLER — Through six no-hit innings on Wednesday afternoon, Lincolnview starter Luke Bollenbacher was in complete control and Leipsic’s offense looked dead-to-rights.
The seventh inning turned out to be a different story.
With its season on the line, Leipsic got a leadoff double from Ethan Zeisloft that started a three-run rally, culminating with a walkoff hit from Nick Schroeder that plated Mill Paniagua for the game-winning run.
After Bollenbacher dominated the Vikings 12 days ago in Lincolnview’s 5-0 win, Leipsic turned what was another strong outing from the NWC Player of the Year into a 3-2 win in its last at-bat.
“He was lights-out all day,” Leipsic coach Darren Henry said of Bollenbacher. “Maybe he was getting a little tired, but you have to take your hat off to him. He was tough.
“I thought we had some really good cuts in the sixth which made me feel pretty decent heading into the seventh. I thought maybe we could make it interesting in the seventh and we definitely did that.”
Wednesday night’s walkoff win was Leipsic’s first over Lincolnview in the past four seasons. Two of those previous five losses were tournament games.
After Zeisloft’s double that led off the seventh inning, Bollenbacher struck out Trent Siefker looking, then Ty Lammers singled to center, putting the tying run on first with one down.
Colin Niese then smoked the first pitch he saw to center, plating both runners and putting the go-ahead run on second.
Two pitches later, Nick Schroeder lined a ball through the infield and despite Lincolnview’s quick relay back in, Henry sent pinch-runner Mill Paniagua home.
“In a normal situation I probably wouldn’t have sent him because of how quickly they got the ball in,” Henry said. “I realized that was our chance because we were at the bottom of the lineup and we couldn’t just sit around and wait for another hit. There’s no way I could have stopped him there.”
The relay from the outfield rolled to catcher Myles Moody who was pulled away from home. Moody then attempted to flip the ball back to the plate but no one was covering and Paniagua slid in safely.
John Dewar got the win in relief of starter Tommy Offenbacher who went six innings and limited the Lancers to two runs on five hits.
Blue Jays blanked by PH
HAMLER — In a matchup of two dominant pitching aces, Patrick Henry’s Mack Hieber shut down Delphos St. John’s Wednesday night, tossing a three-hit shutout and leading the Patriots to a 2-0 District Semifinal victory.
Hieber allowed a leadoff single to Tyce McClain in the first inning but after that, the talented right-hander locked in and kept the Blue Jays’ bats at bay for the rest of the game.
“He worked in the zone,” Delphos St. John’s coach Jerry Jackson said of Hieber. “He had us fooled and he can always pump a fastball by you. That looked like the pitch he trusted the most. He was also spot-on with his off-speed pitches.”
Hieber struck out 10 batters and walked just one in the win. The Patriots were also responsible for handing Delphos St. John’s starter Cameron Elwer his first and only earned run of the season.
Elwer went five innings and successfully worked his way out of trouble throughout the game despite not recording a strikeout, walking three batters and hitting one.
McClain, Aaron Moenter and Braylon Metzger were responsible for the Blue Jays’ three hits.
Patrick Henry plated its runs in the second and third innings on a fielder’s choice and an error.
“It was about opportunities,” Jackson said of the loss. “They took advantage of theirs and we just didn’t get the big hit. We knew coming in that it’d be a struggle to get runs, but we just missed a few double plays that could have prevented them from scoring. You also have to score to win a game and that was the toughest part about today.”
BASEBALL RESULTS AND SCHEDULE
Friday
Division IV District Final at Patrick Henry
Leipsic 13, Patrick Henry 5
Division IV District Final at Coldwater
Fort Recovery 11, Marion Local 3
Wednesday
Division IV Regional Semifinal at Elida
Leipsic vs Riverdale, 2 p.m.
Montpelier vs Fort Recovery, 5 p.m.
Friday
Division IV Regional Final at Elida
TBD, 5 p.m.
