Wildcats handle Redskins

MINSTER - The Minster ACME team had a few plays in the seventh inning of Monday night's game that they probably want to forget. The six innings of really good baseball before that by the Wildcats were unforgettable.

Isaac Dorsten pitched a complete game four hitter, Aaron Ernst and Reid Frick shouldered the load offensively, and Peter Falk showed off his range at shortstop and added a single as Minster scored runs in five straight innings en route to a 6-2 victory over Fort Loramie in the Auglaize/Shelby County sectional semifinal at Hanover Street Park.

"It was a quality win from the old kids to the young kids, the pitching, the fielding, the hitting, the defense, everything was there tonight, and I'm really proud of the kids," Minster coach Mark Wiss said.

The win earned the Wildcats a spot in Wednesday's championship game where they will face either New Bremen, Russia or Fort Loramie at 6 p.m. It also guarantees Minster a place in this weekend's district tournament.

Dorsten retired 12 straight batters spanning from the first inning to the fifth before a defensive error derailed what would have been his fourth consecutive 1-2-3 inning. Falk's arm helped Dorsten out of an error-inflicted jam in the first as he let loose a rocket throw to first in time to get the runner and prevent a Loramie run from scoring.

Dorsten retired the side four times and finished with three strikeouts and no walks. Loramie's two seventh-inning runs were unearned.

Minster scored single runs in the second, third, fifth and sixth innings, and two in the fourth.

After Brett Hoelscher reached on a fielder's choice in the second, he advanced to third on Ernst's single and scored on Frick's RBI hit.

Bryce Schmiesing walked to open the third and took second on a wild pitch and then third on Josh Nixon's fielder's choice. Schmiesing was awarded home when Loramie pitcher Travis Hilgefort balked.

Ernst belted his second hit of the night to begin the fourth and scored from first when Frick smashed a double over the center fielder's head. The Cats grabbed a 4-0 lead when Schmiesing's single went through the wickets of left fielder Mike Hoying, allowing Dorsten to score.

In the fifth, Nixon drove in Falk after he led with a single and made his way to third on a steal and an error. A triple by Schmiesing in the sixth scored pinch hitter Jared Huelsman, who singled in his lone at-bat.

Dorsten only had allowed two hits prior to the last inning. Austin Siegel's two-out single was followed by an error and then an RBI single by Blake Gaier. On the next at-bat, Mike Hoying hit a grounder to Falk, who committed a throwing error that allowed another Loramie run to score. That was the only mistake Falk made, and it was forgotten quickly, as Dorsten finished off his complete game with a strikeout of Dillon Braun.

"(Isaac) was just fabulous," Wiss said. "He just threw strikes all night. He beat the strike zone to death and worked ahead of batters and made them put the ball in play ... and when they hit the ball in play, man, do not hit it to Peter Falk. He was on fire tonight.

"He had the one ball late in the seventh inning where he probably should have tried to get the force at second, but up until then ... even the Loramie coach was like, 'Man, Peter Falk has come a long way, and he is good.' "

Ernst and Frick - the sixth and seventh hitters in Minster's order - were the most effective at the plate. Ernst led all hitters with a 3-for-3 performance and scored a run. Frick had two hits and two RBIs and Schmiesing added two hits as well.

"Aaron Ernst with three hits, Reid Frick with two, that was huge. Jon Niemeyer continues to swing the bat well for us," Wiss said. "We put a lot of the pieces to the puzzle together tonight."