Bulldogs move on to district

COLDWATER - Celina spotted Fort Recovery a run in the top of the first inning before scoring three runs in the bottom of the third to go in front. The Bulldogs then stayed ahead to pick up a 5-2 win in the loser's bracket final of the ACME District 4 Mercer County sectional at Veterans Field in Coldwater.

Celina advances to the district tournament as Mercer County's second seed and plays on Saturday against Auglaize/Shelby top seed Minster at 1 p.m. Minster defeated Celina 3-1 in the team's meeting June 2 at Hanover Street Park

The second game on Saturday has Mercer County top seed Coldwater against Russia at 3:15 p.m.

"Our guys didn't quit," Celina coach Scott Montgomery said. "We hit the ball decent.

"We got guys on and scored runs. You can't score without getting guys on. We did a good job."

The Indians jumped out early as Ben Homan reached on a one-out walk off C.J. Kimmel. One out later, Jacob Homan followed with a double to the fence in right-center to bring home the first run of the game.

Fort Recovery starting pitcher Chase Bruns kept Celina off the board for the first two innings before the Bulldogs struck in the bottom of the third. Kole Murlin led off with a single. One out later, Isaiah Eichler grounded to third, but the throw to force out Murlin at second base was wild, putting runners on the corner for Justin Keeling, who singled in Murlin for the equalizer. A wild pitch scored Eichler to break the tie, with Keeling scoring when the throw back to the plate was off the mark.

"That was huge," Montgomery said. "(Fort Recovery) made some wild pitches and our guys capitalized on that to bring in some runs."

Fort Recovery got a run back in the fourth as Ross Homan scored on Hunter Boughman's double. Montgomery called on Kevin McGohan to relieve Kimmel. McGohan got the Bulldogs out of trouble with three straight outs to strand Boughman at third.

"We have a guy on third base and couldn't get him in," Fort Recovery coach Jeff Wendel said. "We got good swings, but (the ball) got into the air and (Celina) made some plays."

"Kevin did a nice job of keeping the ball low and throwing strikes," Montgomery said. "He had a good defense behind him (Celina did not commit an error) that made some plays."

Insurance runs came in the bottom of the fourth as Jacob Smalley scored on an error and Seth Lonsway doubled in Murlin for the final run.

"The boys played hard, like they have all summer," Wendel said. "Unfortunately, we didn't make a couple of plays, and Celina capitalized. The rest is history."

McGohan retired 10 straight batters before Will Homan singled in the top of the seventh. Tanner Freeman recorded the final two outs, the last by snagging a line drive by Ben Homan.