MOVING THE RUNNER … Wauseon’s Jude Armstrong drops a sacrifice bunt in the sixth inning of the Indians sectional final win over Bryan. (PHOTO BY RICH HARDING, STAFF)
By: Nate Calvin
WAUSEON-The Indians put four runs on the board in the first inning and held off Bryan as they chipped away at the lead to capture the Division II sectional title 4-3.
Jude Armstrong (2-3) started the inning for Wauseon with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice by Sam Krasula and then advanced to third on a wild pitch.
Koleton DeGroff executed a sacrifice bunt that scored Armstrong to give Wauseon a 1-0 lead with two outs.
Wauseon eventually loaded the bases against Bryan starter Breven Deckrosh before their starting pitcher Connar Penrod (1-3, 3 RBIs) lined a double to clear the bases and give Wauseon a 4-0 lead after one inning.
Bryan began to chip away at the lead in the fourth as they put a couple runners on base courtesy of walks to Keith Huard and Noah Huard.
Ethan Psurny then singled to center to score Keith Huard but Indian centerfielder Eli Delgado came up firing as he threw out Noah Huard at home to end the inning as he tried to score on the hit also.
The Golden Bears would get another run in the fifth with a Deckrosh double followed by single from Mikey Wolff (2-4, 1 RBI) to trim the Wauseon lead to 4-2.
Bryan mounted one more charge in the seventh inning as Deckrosh walked and Wolff doubled to put runners at second and third with no outs.
Quinn Brown would lift a sacrifice fly to center to score Deckrosh from third to cut the lead to 4-3.
Penrod then slammed the door by getting Keith Huard and Clayton Rupp to fly out to end the game as the tying run remained at second for Bryan.
Penrod surrendered three runs on five hits with five strikeouts while Deckrosh went the distance for Bryan giving up three runs on four hits and recording seven strikeouts.
Wauseon (18-5) will square off with top seeded Defiance in the Division II district semifinals on Thursday, May 27th at 4pm in Archbold.
SCORE BY INNINGS R H E
Bryan 000 110 1 3 5 0
Wauseon 400 000 0 4 3 2
Nate can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com