Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
Marion Local and St. Henry open ACME tournament with victories
By Gary R. Rasberry
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Parkway's Cole Hamrick, left, gets set to catch the ball at second base while Marion Local's Josh Berning, 19, begins his slide during the first game of the Mercer County ACME Sectional Tournament on Monday evening at Veterans Field in Coldwater. Marion Local opened the tournament with a 1-0 triumph over Parkway.
COLDWATER - Marion Local and St. Henry opened the Mercer County ACME Sectional on Monday with wins of differing styles at Veterans Field in Coldwater.
In the opening game, Marion Local's Jarren Griesdorn outdueled Parkway's Jared Bourelle as the Flyers won 1-0.
In game two, the Redskins scored nine times in the top of the first en route to a 20-3 win over Fort Recovery.
Marion Local and St. Henry return to action tonight in winner's bracket semifinal action at Coldwater. Marion Local faces top-seeded Coldwater at 6 p.m. with St. Henry facing Celina for the fourth time this season at approximately 8 p.m. Parkway and Fort Recovery will await their opponents, the losers from tonight's games, for play on Wednesday.
Marion Local 1, Parkway 0
Griesdorn and Bourelle combined to scatter eight hits and four walks on the evening.
Bourelle gave up just three hits, but it was two consecutive extra-base hits in the bottom of the fourth that made for the game-winner. Jarren Griesdorn, who doubled in the first inning, led off the fourth with his second double of the game. Monte Imwalle stepped up and followed with a double of his own to score Griesdorn for the only run of the game.
The Flyers had a chance for more runs in the inning, but a missed sign on an attempted squeeze play left Imwalle high and dry for the out.
"We tried to manufacture a run there with the squeeze," said Flyers coach Kevin Knapke. "We just couldn't get it in there with the missed sign. We won't be able to do that tomorrow against Coldwater."
Bourelle settled down from there and allowed just one more baserunner over the final two innings, walking two and striking out four.
"He had a nice game," said Parkway coach Ryan Berry of Bourelle. "We had our opportunities. We left seven on base. Jared pitched excellent. We couldn't come up with the timely hit. Proud of how the guys played. They played hard. I don't think I could say enough about Jared's effort out there on the mound."
Griesdorn was dominant in his win, striking out nine Panthers batters along the way. The biggest threat for Parkway to score came in the second when Grant Gray and Grant Ripley posted two-out singles. Taylor Bates followed with a single to left and Gray was waved around to try and score as Dylan Thobe came up firing from the outfield. Ryan Mescher made the catch and put the tag on, getting the out call despite protests that Gray beat the tag.
From there, Griesdorn allowed just two more hits and a walk along the way, getting solid defense from the Flyers' defense.
"We had him down for 122 pitches and only two walks," said Knapke. "Last 4-5 games we had, we had 4-5 errors each game. I told the team between Jarren's pitching and no errors, that was playing the game right. With Bourelle, I knew it was going to be a pitcher's duel and one or two runs would win the game."
"Griesdorn pitched well," said Berry. "He really worked the outside corner of the plate and we weren't catching up to it.
"Overall, it was a great game to be involved in. We were just on the wrong side of the scoreboard."
St. Henry 20, Fort Recovery 3
The Redskins put up a big inning right way, sending 15 batters to the plate in the top of the first, scoring seven of their nine runs with two outs in the inning. St. Henry chased Tribe starter A.J. Backs after just 2/3 of an inning as Backs walked seven and threw five wild pitches as St. Henry collected five hits. Brad Kremer drove in a total of four runs in the inning thanks to an RBI single and a bases-loaded double.
"I was just happy to see we got out early and hit the ball well to start the game," said St. Henry coach Todd Franck. "Hopefully, this will get us on the right way in the tournament."
The Redskins added five runs in the second and five more in the third before scoring once in the fourth inning to conclude the scoring.
Meanwhile, Brady Kremer was working on keeping the Indians off base. The Indians got three base hits over the first four innings and could not get a baserunner to second base.
The Indians averted the shutout in the bottom of the fifth as Kremer tired a bit. Nathan Keller drove in two of the runs with his second single of the game.
"Brady did a nice job of keeping the ball low and getting ahead of the batters," said Franck of Kremer.
Jordan Post went 3-for-4 with a double, triple and five RBI for St. Henry. Jason Westgerdes, Brad Kremer, Neil Schwieterman and Kurt Koesters each added two hits.
Brian Keller and Nathan Keller each had two hits for the Indians.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Marion Local catcher Ryan Mescher, left, slaps the tag on Parkway's Grant Gray, 4, at the plate during the opening game of the Mercer County ACME Sectional Tournament at Veterans Field in Coldwater on Monday.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Marion Local's Jarren Griesdorn pitched a five-hit shutout in the Flyers' 1-0 win over Parkway on Monday in ACME tourney action.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
St. Henry's Brad Kremer, left, steps on second base and throws to first as Fort Recovery's Brian Keller, 45, slides during the Mercer County ACME Sectional Tournament on Monday in Coldwater. St. Henry won the game, 20-3.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
St. Henry's Neil Schwieterman flies out during the first inning of the Redskins' ACME tournament game against Fort Recovery on Monday. St. Henry defeated Fort Recovery, 20-3.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
St. Henry's Brady Kremer got the win for the Redskins on the mound on Monday against Fort Recovery in a 20-3 victory. Kremer went all five innings in the Redskins' victory.
