By Gary R. Rasberry
grasberry@dailystandard.com VAN WERT -- In a final tune up before sending their representative to the state tournament, the American Legion District Two All-Star team faced tourney champion Lima Post 96 on Wednesday at Smiley Park in Van Wert.
After getting out to a strong start, the All Stars, made up of players from St. Marys, St. Henry, Van Wert, Sidney and Delphos posts, lost the lead, giving Lima a 6-3 win as they prepare for the state tournament starting Monday in Athens.
The All Stars mixed things up, playing a 10-man batting order which saw numerous switches and some re-entries late in the game as they rallied.
At the start, the All Stars came up with big pitching and hitting.
Cory Luebke of St. Henry Post 648 started the game on the mound after not pitching since the first game of the tournament on July 17. Luebke looked sharp in his first three innings, striking out four and walking one while allowing just two hits. "It felt all right," said Luebke, who also played centerfield before getting the rest of the night off. "I've been lifting lately and I thought my arm would be a little stiff. My control was a little off, but you have to expect that after not throwing for two weeks."
Meanwhile, the offense picked up right away as Nick Beining of Van Wert Post 178 led off the game by reaching on an error. After Lima pitcher Josh Bailey's pickoff attempt got away from first base and went to the fence in the wide foul territory allowing Beining to go to third, St. Marys 323's Scott Boley lofted a fly to mid-right, giving Beining just enough space to score from third to draw first blood for the All Stars.
After Van Wert's Stuart Zainea was hit by Bailey and advanced to third after an error on a pickoff, Boley took Bailey's 3-2 offering over the left-center fence to make the score 3-0. Boley was 1-for-2 on the day with three RBI.
"We were just having some fun tonight," said the Toledo-bound Celina grad. "It was fun getting all the guys together and playing."
The good times did not last for the All Stars. In the fourth, Lima began to hit St. Marys' Josh Varno. Walks to Josh Keller and Ryan Reindel brought up Jeff Peters, who took Varno's first pitch to straightaway center for a home run tying the game. In the fourth, a single by Tyler Placie was followed up by a double from Jordan Swift to make it 4-3 in favor of Lima.
Two more runs in the seventh came on the watch of Sidney ace Ross Mohler. Jordan Swift and Reindel each had RBI singles in the inning.
In the final two innings, Nick Pfeffenberger came on, allowing just one baserunner and striking out two. In all, the four All-Star pitchers struck out 14 and walked five in scattering eight hits.
In addition to Luebke, St. Henry was represented by Brent Schwieterman and Dusty Ahrens. St. Marys's roster added Matt Helmstetter to Varno, Boley and Pfeffenberger. Sean Boley also was selected to play but did not due to a nagging back injury suffered earlier in the season.
Lima will begin play in the American Legion tournament on Monday. Pairings will be announced on Sunday evening. |
