Efficient pitching

FORT RECOVERY - Jacob Foote received all the run support he needed in the bottom of the first inning.

Foote scattered six hits and threw just 67 pitches to help Fort Recovery pick a 2-1 victory over St. Henry in Mercer County ACME baseball action at the LeFevre Baseball/Softball Complex on Tuesday.

The win secures Fort Recovery (5-4 overall, 3-2 county) the third seed at the Mercer County sectional that begins on Thursday in St. Henry. The Redskins (6-2, 3-2), which would have earned the top seed at the sectional with a win, will be the fourth seed. Brackets for both Mercer County and the Auglaize-Shelby sectionals are on page 10.

The game, lasting just 82 minutes, featured Foote and St. Henry starter Jake Schwieterman getting ahead of batters often. Foote needed just four pitches in the top of the first inning and got through five innings on just 41 pitches.

"He attacked the zone well," said Fort Recovery assistant coach Tony Grisez. "We actually had a pitch count on him today, but he helped me out. A dream come true with his pitch count status."

For Schwieterman, the only inning of issue was the bottom of the first. Austin Siegrist led off with a single and stole second. Caden Grisez followed with a single that brought home Siegrist. Two outs later, Luke Fortkamp singled to bring home Grisez.

After that, Schwieterman buckled down. In the second, Schwieterman walked the bases loaded with two outs, but enticed Grisez to fly to left to end the threat. Fort Recovery left runners-on in every inning from the second through the fifth.

"(Fort Recovery) came out and hit the ball well in the first inning," said St. Henry coach Tyler Bruns. "After that, we shut them down."

"We had a lot of good approaches at the plate," said coach Grisez. "We had walks, a couple of hits, but a lot of people left on base. We need to fix that."

The Indians tried for insurance in the sixth as Grisez and Mason Diller had back-to-back one-out singles. Bruns called in Jared Nietfeld from center field to get out of the inning, which he promptly did with a pop-out to short and a fly to right.

"Jake hasn't thrown much this summer. He did very well," said Bruns. "We expected him to throw strikes, which was exactly what he did. Jared came in late and threw strikes."

From the first to the fifth, Foote allowed just two hits and received solid defense, including catcher Brodie Hart picking off a runner at first base.

In the sixth, St. Henry tried to make a move. Nietfeld and Carter LaGuire had back-to-back singles with one out, but Michael Gonzalez lined a shot at Alex Gaerke at shortstop, who then flipped the ball to Siegrist to complete the inning-ending double play.

The Redskins finally broke through in the top of the seventh. Drew Langenkamp led off with a double, the only extra-base hit for either team on the game. Foote got two outs on back-to-back infield groundouts as Langenkamp advanced to third on the second out.

David Clune then busted up the shutout with a single to right, although Indian right fielder Gavin Evers nearly threw Clune out first. Langenkamp scored on the play to bring up Isaiah Horstman as the go-ahead run.

Foote wasted no time in getting the strikeout - just his second of the night - to close out the game.

"Our defense was phenomenal," said coach Grisez.

"Throwing strikes is what you have to do," Bruns said of Foote's performance. "Defensively, they played a great game (neither team committed an error)."

Caden Grisez and Diller each had two hits to lead Fort Recovery. Clune had a two-hit game for the Redskins.