Redskins roll to tournament crown

ST. HENRY - After breaking out the aluminum in the semifinals of the 16th WCSM/St. Henry Bank Baseball Invitational, the championship game between Marion Local and host St. Henry looked like it would come down to who could outslug the other.

Turned out, the Redskins kept their bats alive and pitcher Jason Westgerdes scattered three hits over five innings as St. Henry won the tournament with a 13-3 win over the Flyers in five innings on Saturday at the Wally Post Athletic Complex.

After combining to beat their semifinals opponents 44-5, it looked like the Flyers and Redskins would have a hit parade in the title game. St. Henry scored a run in the bottom of the first on a Nick Rindler double that scored Westgerdes.

The Flyers came back in the top of the second as Travis Winner started things out by getting hit by a pitch. After Monte Imwalle struck out, Troy Prenger reached on a bunt single and Jake Bertke walked to lead the bases for Ryan Mescher, who dropped a perfect squeeze bunt to score Winner and tie the game. Tyler Thobe lofted a short fly that Brad Kremer chased down from second base, allowing Prenger to score to make it 2-1. Bertke came in on a Marcus Moeller single to make it 3-1.

But from there, Westgerdes and the Redskins' defense shut down the Flyers. Westgerdes allowed one hit over the last three innings in getting the three-hit win.

"The key for Jason pitching is working ahead in the count," said St. Henry coach John Dorner. "The one inning where they did score, he was pitching ball one instead of strike one on the first pitch. They were able to sit on a few pitches and made things happen. Generally, when he works ahead of the count, he's very effective."

St. Henry got to the Flyers starter in the bottom of the third, sending 11 men to the plate as Prenger lost control and hit four batters in the inning. Rindler and Neil Schwieterman had RBI singles and Brad Kremer doubled to put the Redskins up 6-3.

"It was good to see the hits," said Dorner. "We really hit the ball well. We went to the opposite field. We did a great job at the plate today. We swung at some great pitches. We didn't chase bad pitches."

After getting another run in the fourth, the Redskins put the game away with six runs in the bottom of the fifth as 10 Redskins went to the plate. Nick Bruns drove two in with a deep single and Rindler scored the game-ending run on a wild pitch off reliever A.J. Homan.

Flyers coach Greg Bruns was not happy with the way his team finished on the day.

"Playing a league opponent, Flyer ballplayers have to realize they have to play for 21 outs. You can't play for six outs," said Bruns. "...We'll see what happens.

"They're better than two run-rules against league opponents (Marion also lost a run-rule non-conference game against New Bremen). We'll learn a lot from this game," added Bruns.

Westgerdes went 3-for-3 with three runs scored. Bruns, Rindler, Neil Schwieterman and Cory Siefring each drove in two runs.

"Two pitchers throw complete games, you have to be happy with that too," said Dorner, referring to the wins by Westgerdes and Chad Siefring on the day. "For the most part, our defense played well. We had that one inning where we made some bad decisions. Good all-around effort today."

Semifinals
Marion Local 30, Botkins 1 (5 innings)

Jason Wolters stuck out seven and walked none in four innings and drove in six of the Flyers' runs as Marion took control from the start with 11 runs in the first inning against the winless Trojans.

Wolters went 4-for-4 with a double and a triple to go with six RBI. Jarren Griesdorn went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and Tyler Thobe went 3-for-5. Marcus Moeller added a home run.
St. Henry 14, Anna 4

The Redskins scored six times in the top of the first and collected 16 hits in the game as Chad Siefring struck out eight in going the distance in the win over the Rockets.

Rindler was potent at the plate, going 5-for-5 with three RBI. Westgerdes collected two doubles and drove in two runs with Zach Fishbaugh going 4-for-5.

Chad Zumberger paced Anna with a two-run home run in the third inning.