Indians, Redskins split doubleheader

ST. HENRY - Fort Recovery's Cobe Wendel pitched well for three innings before giving up the lead to St. Henry.

Wendel bunted Fort Recovery back on top in the eighth.

A squeeze bunt off the bat of Wendel scored Owen Schoen for the go-ahead run in the Indians' 7-5 victory in Wednesday's ACME doubleheader opener at the Wally Post Athletic Complex.

"Cobe's a great bunter," Fort Recovery coach Jeff Wendel said. "He loves bunting, and he did a great job of getting it down."

Jackson Heath pitched a one-hitter in Game 2 as the Redskins salvaged a doubleheader split with a 10-0, five-inning victory.

In Game 1, Ian Homan hit a two-run double off St. Henry starter Heath in the first inning, which scored Wendel and Riley Post after a pair of walks. Homan went to third on the throw home and scored on a throwing error. Heath pitched to five batters in the inning, walking three, before being replaced by Andrew Lange.

Heath would be back on the hill later, though.

Wendel breezed through the St. Henry lineup early on - striking out six of the first nine hitters he faced.

"He put some curveballs out there and we weren't adjusting," St. Henry coach Kevin Lange said.

Grant Kunkler finally broke up Wendel's no-hit bid with one out in the fourth. St. Henry's second hit came on the next pitch, as Isaac Ontrop hit an RBI double to deep center. The third hit came by Zach Heitkamp, who hit another RBI double an at-bat later.

The Redskins had six straight hits in the inning - Heath singled, Isaac Wendel hit the tying single and Tyler Dehan delivered the go-ahead single to chase Wendel from the game. Derek Broering's sac fly RBI off relief pitcher Riley Post extended St. Henry's lead to 5-3.

"We finally started seeing it in the fourth inning when we scored five runs," coach Lange added. "We finally starting putting it together and were looking good. Typically the top of our lineup does pretty good. They were a little bit off tonight. The bottom picked it up for us in that inning. We just didn't put clutch hits together other than that one inning."

The Indians had a couple clutch hits left in them.

They loaded bases in the sixth with no outs after Ryne Post walked and Wendel and Riley Post singled. Homan grounded into a 1-2-3 double play, but Wendel scored on a passed ball and Garrett Faller hit the game-tying double.

Schoen began the eighth by legging out an infield single. Ryne Post walked and Schoen advanced to third on an errant pickoff attempt to second, which set up Wendel's squeeze bunt. Homan tacked on another run with a single, his third RBI of the night.

"Six straight hits, five runs (in the fourth). Give them credit," coach Wendel said. "But give our guys credit, too. We faced some adversity all game, all year long, and we don't back down. We love competition."

Cobe Wendel, Homan and Faller all had two hits for the Indians. Riley Post earned a win in 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief work, striking out four and walking three.

Lange threw 7 2/3 innings of relief for St. Henry, striking out seven and walking three in a tough-luck loss.

After a short pitching stint in the opener, Heath had his number called to start in Game 2.

"We're expecting him to come out and throw a little better," coach Lange said after the opening loss.

This effort was much better.

Heath one-hit the Indians, striking out five and walking just two over five innings.

Andrew Lange and Grant Kunkler each had three hits for the Redskins. Ontrop had three RBIs with a double, with Lange and Josh Evers each adding two RBIs. Seth Heitkamp doubled.

"We feel much better about the way we played in the second game," said coach Lange, whose team improved to 11-3 overall.

"A young Seth Heitkamp (sophomore) came up big for us," he added. "A big clutch double with two strikes on him. He played a solid left field for us, too. We will take him to Anna with us tomorrow to see what else he can do."

Both teams are back in action tonight. Fort Recovery hosts Parkway at 7:30 p.m. St. Henry visits Anna for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch.