(May 13th, 2015) – EDGERTON: Hits did not come easy as the Bombers of Edon made the short trip to take on Edgerton in a Sectional Final match-up between rival schools.
A classic pitcher’s dual, the contest saw Edon’s Landon Bloir do battle against Bulldog thrower Duane Miller. Both performed so well, in fact, that neither was able to claim the victory, as both were forced out of the game after ten innings of play due to the rules and regulations of the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
Edgerton would go on to best the Bomber boys 1-0 in the bottom of the eleventh inning, a true testament to just how important home field advantage can be.
Bloir started the game just a tad shaky, walking a few Bulldog batters in the first two innings. He also struck out several more, however, and didn’t give up a hit in that span, as Edgerton suffered great difficulty in trying to just make contact with his pitches.
Miller threw most of his pitches into the strike zone, relying upon his defense to help him out from time to time. The Edon bats had a much easier time connecting with the ball, but superb fielding on the part of the hometown boys of Edgerton held them without a hit in the early goings of the contest as well.
Both pitchers had a no-hitter going through the conclusion of the third inning. Then, in the top of the fourth, Edon’s Kaden Sapp hit a looper to left field for a single, breaking up Miller’s streak. The Bomber offense was unable to capitalize on this however, and the scoreboard remained bare.
As the contest continued, Bloir seemed to get more and more efficient from the mound. The strikeouts piled up, and innings came and went without the Bulldogs registering a hit.
Seven inning passed, with the score still reading all zeros. Extra innings were need to decide the outcome of the game. A lot of them, actually.
After ten innings, neither side could gain the upper hand, and the starting pitchers were forced to retire. In his last stand on the mound, Bloir struck out the side, displaying the control and endurance of a true ace. He approached the dug out with 20 strikeouts under his belt.
Oh, and he still hadn’t given up a hit.
For the eleventh inning, Edon called upon Hayden Runyan to step in for relief. Striking out his first batter, he saw his second pop out to right field. Then, the Edgerton offense finally got things going, hitting for a trio of singles, with the third driving in the game-winning run.
Sapp earned two hits on the evening for Edon, hitting a double in addition to his single earlier in the game. Teammate Colton Lyman, a junior, connected with the ball for a pair of singles after a couple of deep balls fell short of the fence in the first few innings. Tyler Seaman, another Edon hitter, earned a single as well in the loss.