The Daily Standard
Story Archive
Marion Local's Isaac Moeller slides safely into home plate.
MCGUFFEY - It was a big day for Midwest Athletic Conference baseball teams at Upper Scioto Valley during Tuesday's Division VI district semifinals. In the opening game, a great start from Ethan Osterholt and a three-run third frame gave the Flyers all they needed to beat Columbus Grove 4-0.
Marion advances to the district final for the fourth year in a row, and the Flyers will take on Wayne Trace for the district crown Friday back at Upper Scioto Valley. The Raiders took down Lincolnview 7-5 in nine innings.
"We don't have a great record, but this is what our schedule prepares us for," said Marion coach Mitchell Hays, whose team improved to 13-13 with the win. "There's a reason why we have one of the toughest schedules in Ohio, so we can come in and have a chance to win games like this."
Osterholt worked around a hit batter to get through a scoreless first. The Bulldogs could only muster a single in the second inning, but a grounder got the Flyers' back to the dish. Some two-out work from Isaac Moeller and Trey Brookhart gave the team its best chance at a run, but a ground ball from Osterholt killed the rally.
Entering the fourth in a stalemate, Seth Heitkamp reached second on a Grove error to again give Marion a chance at a run. Bunt-singles from Derek Knapke and Landyn Minton eventually loaded the bases for Kamden Eifert.
The Flyers' outfielder did his part and poked a fly ball to left field to bring Heitkamp home and give Marion a 1-0 lead. Ben Meier added on with his single that was lined past shortstop, while a balk from Grove pitcher Gage Sautter made it 3-0 as Minton crossed home. Two ground balls ended the threat, but the damage was done for Marion.
"We have not executed the best this year, but we did that inning thankfully," said Hays of his team's small-ball approach. "If we don't, then there's a whole new ballgame."
Marion Local's Ethan Osterholt pitched six innings of three-hit baseball against Columbus Grove.
Osterholt kept dealing over the fifth and sixth innings to keep the Bulldogs off the scoreboard. A double in the sixth was neutralized on a shallow fly ball, and Heitkamp aided his pitcher by gunning down Jacob Ricker's steal attempt.
Wanting some insurance, Moeller gave Marion some juice with a leadoff walk and added some serious speed on the base paths. His steal attempt two pitches later resulted in a run for Marion. A pair of Grove errors saw the ball travel around the infield while Moeller traveled home to make it 4-0 with a slide.
A shutdown seventh from bullpen arm Luke Everman ended the contest, and Marion could start celebrating. Osterholt finished with four strikeouts over six innings, and gave up just three hits and two walks. Brookhart and Minton had two-hit days to lead the offense, one which scored the four runs off seven hits.
"I'm really proud of the guys, they got back (to district finals). This was their goal to get back there, and now we're there so we will see how it goes," said Hays.
Parkway's Jacoby Triplett (right) slides into the tag of St. Henry's Drew Langenkamp.
After losing the regular season encounter against Parkway 7-6 in nine innings, St. Henry won the one that mattered, as the Redskins scored five runs in the first inning to book a ticket to the district finals with an 8-0 win over the Panthers.
"It was about keeping the team in this game," said St. Henry coach Mike Gast, whose team improved to 23-3 with the win. "In tournament time that's not such a tough thing to do, but we just wanted making sure that we are continuing to attack and stay within ourselves and that makes us successful as a team."
The win pits St. Henry against Colonel Crawford in Shelby on Friday, with first pitch set for 5 p.m. The Eagles bested Wynford 6-5 in their district semifinal.
Parkway had the first chance of the game after a leadoff single from Jacoby Triplett and a walk to Kolt Harner put two runners on. St. Henry pitcher Max Delzeith bunkered down however, and picked up his first strikeout to end the threat and the inning.
That gave the red-hot Redskins' bats a chance to work, and it did not take long. Drew Langenkamp gave the team its first baserunner via a walk. After working his way to second on a steal, it was Owen Zimmerman that gave St. Henry the early lead on his single through the right side of the field.
"We just did not execute," said Panthers' coach Scott Steinbrunner. "We did not get the big hit, and (St. Henry) came out and found those few hits. We knew we could not give up a big inning, and the first was a big inning."
St. Henry's Carter LaGuire makes contact with a pitch during Wednesday's game against Parkway.
Carter LaGuire made it a 2-0 game on his single that dropped into right field. Austin Zimmerman kept the pressure on with a two-run knock that was roped down the third base line, and quickly it was a 4-0 game. The final run came across on Austin Kunk's single that blooped past second base and into right field.
Taking a 5-0 lead into the next inning, Delzeith continued to deliver on the mound. Two strikeouts in the second inning kept the Panthers off the base paths, while the Redskins made it a 6-0 game on Owen Zimmerman's single.
Parkway pitcher Perry Schwieterman kept St. Henry off the board in the third despite loading the bases, but the offense was nowhere to be seen against Delzeith in the fourth.
Another St. Henry run came home in the fourth to pad the already solid lead. Langenkamp drilled a ball past the dive of Triplett at shortstop, and the MAC conference player of the year later scored on LaGuire's grounder. The 7-0 lead looked safe for St. Henry while Parkway was looking to find some offense.
The bats went quiet again in the sixth, and Delzeith picked up strikeout No. 9 in the inning. While not needing another run, it certainly helped Gast's team when Langenkamp went low and dug an Isaac Beveridge pitch to left-center field for a solo shot, and it was 8-0 Redskins.
Delzeith got the ball in the final frame, and delivered by striking out the side and finishing with 12 strikeouts for the game. The MAC first-team pitcher gave up just two hits in the winning effort, and he now moves to 10-2 on the year. Langenkamp reached base four times in the game, while Owen Zimmerman and LaGuire finished with multi-hit days.
"I'm really proud of him today," Gast said of his pitcher. "All his stuff was really good tonight."
Schwieterman took the loss for Parkway after his four innings, but battled back from the tough first frame to keep his team in it. Harner reached base twice to lead the Parkway offense, and the season ends for them at 11-16 overall.
