Lou Fujiwara of the Lima Locos tags out Paul Osting of the Hamilton Joes during Sunday’s game at Simmons Field.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
LIMA – On Sunday evening at Simmons Field, the Lima Locos turned in their best all-around effort of the summer, resulting in an 11-2 victory over first-place Hamilton in the finale of a three-game series.
It all started on the mound with starter Chase Jarnagin (College of Charleston), who locked in after struggling through his first inning of work. Jarnagin pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed a pair of earned runs on four hits en route to his second win.
Both of those runs came in the first inning where Jamie Palmese (East Tennessee State) and Brayden Fraasman (North Carolina State University) each got on with a hit before Paul Osting (Lincoln Trail College) drove them in.
Hamilton had an early 2-0 lead but the Locos answered in a hurry, recording three runs in the first four innings and blowing the game wide open with a three-run fifth.
Blake Bowen (University of Akron) entered play leading the Locos with 14 hits, and he added three more to his total on Sunday evening.
Bowen started his night with an RBI single, scoring Bo Shinkle (Kent State University) for the first Locos run. Landon Tate (Kennesaw State) drove in the tying run in the second inning.
“We have good hitters, just sometimes we have bad approaches,” Locos coach Chad Ehrnsberger said. “I got on them last night, and the entire team showed up early for workouts this morning. They want to get better, and they have the talent, we just have to have the right approach and they did that.”
With the score at 2-2, Jarnagin was able to settle into his comfort zone on the mound.
The Locos lefty hurled four consecutive 1-2-3 innings and retired 13 batters in a row.
Jarnagin’s day ended in the fifth inning after he allowed a leadoff single and walked the next batter.
“I felt better today than I did during my previous outings,” said Jarnagin. “Once I found my fastball, I felt like it was pretty much over. I started locating better, and the batters were giving us easy ground balls and putouts.”
Griffin Howe (St John River State College) inherited Jarnagin’s two base-runners and immediately shut down Hamilton’s bats.
Howe let Brayden Fraasman (North Carolina State University) reach on a single before Ryan Novak (Miami University) scorched a ball to first base that was snagged by Caden Lockwood (Ball State University), who doubled up Fraasman at first to get out of the jam.
Howe went on to put the Joes down in order over the final three innings of relief to get the save.
Top performers
Lima Locos 11, Hamilton Joes 2
• Blake Bowen (University of Akron) went 3 for 5 with two runs batted in and one run scored.
• Griffin Howe (St. Johns River State College) threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen to get his first save of the season.
• Sebastian Alexander (Coastal Carolina University) reached base safely three times, going 2 for 4 with one RBI and two runs scored.
Lima Locos 13, Michigan Monarchs 8
• Kaden Brown (Kennesaw State University) went 2 for 5, drew a walk and drove in three runs.
• Skyler Lhamon (Olney Central College) pitched three innings out of the bullpen and was the winner in his Locos debut.
• Blake Bowen (University of Akron) hit a three-run homer in the first inning of the win.
Lima Locos 10, Michigan Monarchs 7
• Sebastian Alexander (Coastal Carolina University) drew four walks and scored two runs in the victory.
• Drew Kirby (University of Louisiana Lafayette) held Michigan hitless in four innings with five strikeouts out of the bullpen.
• Brice Estep (Coastal Carolina University) recorded two runs batted in and scored one run.
Lima Locos 3, Michigan Monarchs 1
• Blake Bowen (University of Akron) launched a solo homer in the sixth inning.
• Thomas Howard (University of Louisville) was the winning pitcher after he held the Monarchs to one earned run on five hits in five innings.
• Landon Tate (Kennesaw State University) went 1 for 3, drove in a run and scored once in the Locos’ fourth straight win.
GLSCL STANDINGS
Team`Record
Hamilton Joes`13-5
Muskegon Clippers`9-6
Lima Locos`10-8
Xenia Scouts`10-11
Michigan Monarchs`8-10
South Ohio Copperheads`8-10
Grand Lake Mariners`5-13
RESULTS AND SCHEDULE
Sunday
Lima Locos 11, Hamilton Joes 2
Michigan Monarchs 5, Grand Lake Mariners 0
Muskegon Clippers 10, Xenia Scouts 3
Xenia Scouts 7, Muskegon Clippers 6
Tuesday
Lima Locos 13, Michigan Monarchs 8
Grand Lake Mariners 8, Hamilton Joes 1
Xenia Scouts 5, South Ohio Copperheads 4
Wednesday
Hamilton Joes 10, Grand Lake Mariners 9
Thursday
Lima Locos 10 Michigan Monarchs 7
Lima Locos 3, Michigan Monarchs 1
Hamilton Joes 11, Grand Lake Mariners 5
South Ohio Copperheads 5, Xenia Scouts 0
South Ohio Copperheads 8, Xenia Scouts 4
Friday
Games ended after The Lima News deadline. Find scores, game stories, photos and more on LimaScores.com.
Lima Locos at Grand Lake Mariners, 6:35 p.m.
Michigan Monarchs at Muskegon Clippers, 7:05 p.m.
South Ohio Copperheads at Hamilton Joes, 7:05 p.m
Saturday
Grand Lake Mariners at Lima Locos, 7:05 p.m.
South Ohio Copperheads at Hamilton Joes, 7:05 p.m.
Michigan Monarchs at Muskegon Clippers, 7:05 p.m.
Sunday, June 30
Lima Locos at Grand Lake Mariners, 4:05 p.m.
Muskegon Clippers at Michigan Monarchs, 4:05 p.m.
Hamilton Joes at South Ohio Copperheads, 5:05 p.m.
Tuesday, July 2
Muskegon Clippers at Lima Locos, 7:05 p.m.
Grand Lake Mariners at South Ohio Copperheads, 7:05 p.m.
Hamilton Joes at Xenia Scouts, 7:05 p.m.
Wednesday, July 3
Muskegon Clippers at Lima Locos, 7:05 p.m.
South Ohio Copperheads at Grand Lake Mariners, 6:35 p.m.
Hamilton Joes at Xenia Scouts, 7:05 p.m.
Thursday, July 4
Muskegon Clippers at Lima Locos, 5:05 p.m.
South Ohio Copperheads at Grand Lake Mariners, 6:35 p.m.
Xenia Scouts at Hamilton Joes, 7:05 p.m.
Friday, July 5
Xenia Scouts at Lima Locos, 7:05 p.m.
South Ohio Copperheads at Muskegon Clippers, 7:05 p.m.
Michigan Monarchs at Hamilton Joes, 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, July 6
Lima Locos at Xenia Scouts, 7:05 p.m.
South Ohio Copperheads at Muskegon Clippers, 7:05 p.m.
Michigan Monarchs at Hamilton Joes, 4:35 p.m.
Michigan Monarchs at Hamilton Joes, 6:35 p.m.
