Bulldogs roll past Roughriders

ST. MARYS - Heading into the bottom of the first, the St. Marys ACME baseball team was lucky to only be down 2-0.

But that was already enough for Celina and pitcher Ethan Bryant, who gave up one run over seven innings and allowed just two hits as the Bulldogs earned a 5-1 win at K.C. Geiger Park on Tuesday.

"He located it, mixed it up 0-2, and was able to get guys out, simple as that," Celina coach Bryce Monnin said. "He was just working the zone. Him and Nick (Steinbrunner) had a good thing going back there today."

Leading off the game, Blayn Aller hit a grounder to third base and reached safely as the throw trickled under first baseman Ty Kiehl's glove. The ball rolled into foul territory and Aller took off for second, where he was thrown out, but the umpire ruled that Kiehl had bumped Aller as he turned to grab the ball, and Celina had its leadoff runner on second.

Steinbrunner walked on four pitches and Quinn Andrew was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Aller scored on a fielder's choice groundout to the shortstop. Jack Hassan lined a pitch into shallow centerfield to bring home Steinbrunner before pitcher Calvin Caywood induced an infield fly to short and struck out Dale Secrest to strand Andrew and Hassan.

"We've started to actually put the ball in play, hit the ball a lot harder than we have in previous weeks," Monnin said. "Defensively and pitching we've been solid all summer, it's just been our bats and our base running."

The Roughriders put a runner on in the bottom of the inning when Tanner Howell was hit by a pitch, but centerfielder Alex Yahl's screaming line drive went right to the third baseman with Howell taking off for second. Howell never had a chance to get back to the bag.

In the second, Kiehl scorched a ground ball down the third base line, stopping at first with a long single, then stole second and moved to third on a balk. But Bryant retired the next two batters to end the inning, then the next seven in a row as the Bulldogs kept adding on.

Bryant only struck out four, but capitalized on weak contact and strong play from his defense. He only allowed five balls out of the infield and didn't reach a three-ball count until the sixth inning.

"(Bryant) had a good sequence," St. Marys coach Isaac Fitzgerald said. "It took us towards the end of the game to figure it out, and we were slow on making adjustments."

Celina's bats backed him up, but the Bulldogs missed as many chances as they converted. Bryant, David Kramer and Aller led off the second with singles, but the Bulldogs got just one run across on a sacrifice fly. In the fourth, Celina loaded the bases with one out and knocked Caywood out of the game, but after Dylan Feister hit a deep sacrifice fly to left field, Steinbrunner was thrown out trying to take third to end the inning.

Celina added another run in the sixth on a double steal, but a failed squeeze got Zach Stein tagged out at home, and a moment later Aller was tagged out at third on a ground ball. Andrew flew out to end the inning and keep the score at 5-1.

"The squeeze we had with Nick and Zach Stein, it was a tough pitch," Monnin said. "Just been our luck, we're 0-for-5 on squeezes this year. That, and then the play with Blayn at third, that's something he's learned his whole baseball career. Kind of got lost in the moment."

The Roughriders generated some late chances, putting runners on first and second with one out in the fifth and getting a leadoff walk in the sixth. Bryant got a high fly ball and a ground ball to second to get out of the fifth, but allowed Heath Dilsaver to score in the sixth on a sacrifice fly, after Dilsaver went to second on a passed ball and to third on a wild pitch.

But that was as much offense as the Roughriders could muster. Bryant gave up a two-out walk in the seventh, but ended the game with a pop-up to shortstop.

"We had five or six guys stranded out there," Fitzgerald said. "We've just got to find a way to get them in."