The Daily Standard
Story Archive
BLUFFTON - Whenever Wapakoneta threatened, St. Marys found a way to beat it back.
Brayden Sullivan got great defense from himself and his teammates and the Roughriders managed two runs past Grant Jolly as St. Marys shut out Wapakoneta 2-0 in the Division II baseball district semifinals on Thursday afternoon at Memorial Field at Bluffton University.
The Roughriders (14-13) returns to Bluffton on Saturday at noon for the district final against Upper Sandusky, which defeated Kenton 4-1 in the second semifinal of the day. Wapakoneta, the Western Buckeye League champion, ends the campaign at 18-6.
"We knew if we could put pressure on them, we had a chance to be successful," said St. Marys coach Adam Graves.
Sullivan scattered seven hits and walked three, but he and the defense worked to strand 10 Wapak runners on base, including the bases loaded in the fourth inning and runners in scoring position in the sixth and seventh.
St. Marys' Brayden Sullivan pitched a seven-hit shutout to lead the Roughriders past Wapakoneta.
"I was able to locate my fastball today," said Sullivan. who improves to 7-2 on the season. "I knew I had a great defense behind me to pick me up."
"Sully's been the guy all year," said Graves. "He continues to be that guy. Defensively, we made some great plays in the field."
Jolly showed why he was the WBL Player of the Year by retiring the first nine Roughriders he faced before Kasey Gross fouled off three straight pitches on a full count and drawing a walk. AJ Dieringer followed with a sacrifice bunt, and after a wild pitch and a strikeout, Jacob Kaiser took advantage of the swirling wind and looped a double to right to score Gross for the game-winning run.
Insurance came in the fifth inning. With one away, Easton Craft was hit by a pitch and stole second. Ethan Hollandsworth grounded to third, but the throw to first was in the dirt, leaving all hands safe. Caleb Felver grounded to second baseman Ryan Camper, who tagged pinch-runner Colton Mabry on the way to second but could not turn the double play, allowing Craft to score to make it 2-0.
St. Marys' Easton Craft prepares to throw to first after forcing out Wapakoneta's Taylor Echols during Thursday's Division II district baseball semifinal at Bluffton University. The Roughriders shut out the Redskins 2-0 to advance to the final.
"Offensively, we were able to get the ball in," said Graves. "(Wapakoneta) has three Division I arms. We put the ball in play and put pressure on them."
Sullivan had his first 1-2-3 inning of the game in the fifth, but in the sixth, the lefty walked Austin West and gave up a single to Alex Lewis to put runners on first and second for Jacob Brinkman, who lofted a fly to center that Kaiser snagged without issue to end the threat.
"You could tell early on the the wind was going to play havoc," said Graves. "Our guys did a great job of getting under the ball and being in position to make the catch."
All that remained was closing the door in the bottom of the seventh, which started with Sullivan enticing Zac Niekamp to ground to Craft at second for the first out. Taylor Echols followed with a double that Kogge nearly snagged on a dive. Jolly helped his own cause with a single, but Echols was held at third to put runners on the corners for Landon Brandt. Sullivan struck out Brandt on four pitches to get to Kaden Moore, who hit a high pop fly on the first pitch. Sullivan battled the wind and nearly collided with Echols, but snagged the ball to end the game.
"Kogge would have made the last catch, but I screwed up and moved him over," said Graves. "When you're in the tournament, you have to take advantage of the opportunities that you've got. We were able to take advantage of them and Sully and the defense worked out of huge jams early."
'The wind was something," said Sullivan. "It was not easy to catch those foul balls, but our outfield has been doing it all year."
Now the Roughriders face a Rams team that's 25-3 and ran the table in the Northern 10 Conference. Upper Sandusky has won eight of its last nine.
"I don't know when the last time we've been to the district final, it might have been the early 2000s," said Graves. "It's a great opportunity for us."
St. Marys' AJ Dieringer takes a swing at the pitch during Thursday's Division II district semifinal against Wapakoneta at Bluffton University.
