Redskins take two

ST. HENRY - St. Henry took home a pair of ACME baseball victories over Marion Local on Wednesday night at the Wally Post Athletic Complex.

The Redskins first completed a 2-1 victory over the Flyers in a game that had been suspended due to weather on June 8 in the top of the fifth inning in Maria Stein.

In the nightcap, Marion took a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh before St. Henry scored three times, the third and game-winning run coming on an RBI single from Ethan Thieman to give the Redskins a 5-4 win for the sweep.

The late game featured solid pitching all around. Andrew Lange went the first five innings for St. Henry, allowing two hits and striking out six. The Flyers manufactured runs thanks to five walks and two hit batsmen by Lange. Brandon Fleck tripled home Kendall Bruns in the top of the first inning and then in the third used a sacrifice fly to score Bruns again to make it 3-0. Reece Eifert later added a sac fly to score Nolan Habodasz in the fifth to make the score 4-2.

"All in all, a good performance by Andrew," said St. Henry coach Kevin Lange.

Aaron Brunswick, who had finished the first game as a warmup for the second game, held St. Henry to two hits and two walks over five innings. The Redskins scored their first two runs in the third inning as Daylen Froning doubled home Zack Heitkamp and then later scored on a passed ball.

Bruns relieved Brunswick in the sixth and got out of a jam when St. Henry put runners at second and third with one out by striking out Lange and then getting Jared Schwieterman to pop out in foul territory by first base.

"Kendall hasn't pitched all year because of his shoulder," said Marion coach Glenn Griesdorn. "Hitting the ball, that's what we wanted."

"(In the sixth), we needed a hit and couldn't do it," coach Lange said. "We had the meat of our order (top half of the order). Come around in the seventh, the guys in the bottom of the order got it done."

In the seventh, Braden Deal led off with a double. Isaac Ontrop drew a walk. Ryan Uhlenhake, who relieved Lange on the mound in the sixth, singled home Deal to make it 4-3. Froning tried for a bunt and picked up two strikes. Needing a fair ball to prevent a foul-ball out, Froning laid down a perfect bunt down the first base line to move the runners up 90 feet. Sam Lefeld singled home Ontrop to tie the game at 4-all.

"That was a gutsy play by Froning," coach Lange said about the bunt. "That was all him. He laid it down and did the job. That was crucial."

After Rylee Deitsch popped out in foul territory for the second out, Ethan Thieman worked the count full before blooping a fly ball to right. Brunswick made a diving try for the catch, but the ball dropped in front, easily scoring Uhlenhake for the game-winner.

"I was just trying to put the ball into play," Thieman said. "It ended up working out, I guess."

"When you want to be good, you have to make the plays," Griesdorn said.

Uhlenhake picked up the win, striking out five of the seven batters he faced.

"I knew my defense would be behind me," said Uhlenhake. "I just let them make plays."

"That was huge," Lange said. "He's going to be a sophomore (this fall). It was big for him to come in and perform like he did."

Lefeld went 3-for-4 for St. Henry and was the only player on either team with a multi-hit game.
Game One
St. Henry 2, Marion Local 1
(Completion of
suspended game)

All of the scoring had occurred on June 8. The Flyers scored their lone run in the bottom of the first when Fleck singled home Reece Hess.

After that, Marc Siefring shut down Marion in the final three innings he had pitched on June 8. Froning took the mound on Wednesday and picked up the save with three innings of one-hit, one-walk baseball.

The Redskins scored its two runs in the top of the fourth. Kent Buschur's single scored Thieman for the tying run. One play later, Isaac Wendel's grounder to short was booted, allowing Siefring to score the winning run against Fleck. Brunswick pitched the final two innings on Wednesday.

Thieman and Buschur each had two hits for St. Henry. Hess had two of the five Marion hits.

Both teams return to county play on Friday. St. Henry travels to Celina for an 8 p.m. first pitch and Marion hosts Parkway at the Airport for a 7 p.m. start.