Friday, May 20th, 2022
Lights-out
Schmitz ties own strikeout record as Redskins beat Flyers
By Dave Stilwell
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
St. Henry's Nolan Schmitz goes airborne in celebration after the final out of a 2-0 victory over Marion Local in the Division IV sectional final at the Wally Post Athletic Complex on Thursday. Schmitz tied his own school record with 16 strikeouts.
ST. HENRY - St. Henry's Nolan Schmitz tied his own school record with 16 strikeouts and allowed just one ball out of the infield in a 2-0 victory over Marion Local in the Division IV sectional final Thursday at the Wally Post Athletic Complex.
"He's been really good for the last three or four weeks," St. Henry coach Mike Gast said of his senior ace. "He's got really good stuff and he threw three pitches for strikes. When he is in command of those three pitches, it makes him very difficult to hit."
St. Henry (17-7) advances to the Coldwater district and will take on Lima Central Catholic in the nightcap of two semifinal games scheduled for Wednesday.
Schmitz struck out seven of the first eight batters he faced, allowing two walks through three innings. With one out in the top of the fourth inning, Marion's Jake Topp singled up the middle, which proved to be the Flyers' only hit of the game and the only ball to leave the infield off Schmitz.
Griffin Bruns followed by reaching on an error, but Schmitz struck out the next two batters to get out of the jam.
Marion Local threatened again in the fifth after Bryant Meier led off the inning by being hit by a pitch. He went to second on a wild pitch and scampered to third on a sacrifice bunt by Drew Lause, but Schmitz struck out the next hitter to leave Meier stranded at third.
"We didn't have to play much defense behind Nolan, but we made a few key plays when we had to in big spots," Gast said. "And Nolan made some big plays on some attempted bunts for hits that he was able to throw out at first, which could have potentially changed the game for us."
After Meier reached in the fifth, Schmitz retired nine of the last 10 batters, allowing only a two-out walk in the sixth.
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Marion Local pitcher Hayden Wibbeler slides to field a St. Henry ground ball near the baseline in the Division IV sectional final at the Wally Post Athletic Complex on Thursday.
While Schmitz was mowing down batters, Marion Local senior pitcher Hayden Wibbeler was putting together an impressive outing of his own.
Wibbeler had a no-hitter going until Clayton Everman led off the home half of the fifth with a solid single to left. Two outs later, Mark Knapke lifted a fly ball to right that was initially misjudged and then dropped by the right fielder, allowing Everman to score from first.
The Redskins add an insurance run in the sixth when Bryce Brookhart led off with a single, went to second on a sacrifice, to third on an error, and then scored on an infield single by Drew Schwieterman.
"Their pitcher threw well tonight, and obviously we would have liked to do better at the plate," Marion Local coach Mitch Hays said. "We knew the game was going to come down to who made the mistakes, and unfortunately tonight it was us, but that's baseball."
The Flyers, who lost to St. Henry 7-2 during the regular season, finish the campaign with a 10-12 record.
Schmitz improves to 6-2 on the season and now has 103 strikeouts in 52 innings.
Wibbeler suffered the loss, giving up just three hits and striking out six.
