Crestview's Crowle no hits Cardinals

WAPAKONETA - To say it was tough for New Bremen to get anything going against Crestview would be a bit of an understatement.

Pitcher Terra Crowle retired the first 12 batters she faced and finished with a no-hitter as the Knights captured the Division IV Wapakoneta district title with a 10-0 win over the Cardinals in five innings on Friday at Wapakoneta High School.

Crestview (21-6) will face Newton on Wednesday at Tippecanoe Middle School in the regional semifinal. Newton beat Fort Loramie 5-2 in the Brookville I district.

New Bremen ends its season at 15-11.

Crowle had a unique opening pitch, having the ball slip out and land halfway between the circle and plate, but after that the senior was on target. Crowle struck out seven of the first nine batters she faced.

"That was the difference in the ballgame," New Bremen coach Craig Griesdorn said. "They were able to put balls into play. We made some mental mistakes and physical mistakes. But it came down to hitting. When you have no hits and a couple balls put into play, it's tough to score some runs."

Crowle lost her perfect game in the fifth when Sophie Fox reached on an error. Crowle later walked Jenna Bertke and Danielle Ahlers to load the bases with two outs for Sarah Hall. Crowle came back and recorded her ninth strikeout of the game to end the threat.

"Terra just threw probably her best game of the year," Knights coach Carl Etzler said. "She got a good warmup in and the weather was nice. Other than that first pitch, she was popping it pretty good."

The Knights scored in the bottom of the first on a Jade Preston single, which brought home Cora Millay. After a scoreless second, Crestview scored four runs - all unearned - on three New Bremen errors and two base hits. Crowle and Kristen Etzler each had RBI singles and Mackenzie Riggenbach brought home a run on a sacrifice fly.

"They scored three runs with two outs in (the third). We have to bear down in those situations and make a play," Griesdorn said. "They were able to get balls into play where we couldn't get to it. Give them credit. They're a good hitting team."

After adding two runs in the fourth, the Knights triggered the run rule in the fifth. Millay had an RBI fielders' choice and Brady Guest ended the game with a two-run single.

"We thought if we could stay down and not chase the high pitch, we could get to (Fox)," Etzler said. "Every ball we hit, I thought we hit hard."

Guest was 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Tianna Rager was 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Millay scored three runs.

"We had a good season. We came on (late)," Griesdorn said. "Lot of people didn't know where we would be at. I was confident we'd get some places."