COMPLETE GAME WIN Loco righthander Jaxon Richmond went the distance on the hill allowing five runs two of them earned on six hits and struck out seven VIEW 128 PHOTOS OF THIS CONTEST FOR FREE AT WWWTHEVILLAGEREPORTERCOM
By: Nate Calvin
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
sports@thevillagereporter.com
BRYAN (May 24, 2024) – A week after the Montpelier softball team defeated Hilltop to earn a berth in the regionals, the Loco baseball team followed suite by besting Hilltop 12-5 in the Division IV district final at Sumpter Field in Bryan.
The second seeded Cadets drew first blood as Raace Haynes smacked a one-out double to left, Terry Rebeck brought him home with a single and Cameron Schlosser and Cameron Shimp each had base hits, with Shimp’s single scoring Rebeck, to make it 2-0 after a 1/2 inning.
The top seeded Locos tallied a run in their first at bat as Griffin Cooley led off the frame with one of his three walks, would steal second, move to third on a sacrifice fly, and then scored on a single by Landon Fackler.
A five-run second put the Locos on top to stay as two walks by Hilltop starter Schlosser and an error on Wesley Hartsock contact, loaded the bases with no outs.
Tyler Plourde then hit into a fielder’s choice force out at second to score Jaxon Stahler, who walked to start the frame, to tie the game 2-2.
After Plourde took second, Hartsock scored from third on a wild pitch, and Cooley reached on another walk to spell the end of the day on the mound for Schlosser.
New pitcher Wade Wagner then walked the first batter he faced to reload the bases and Fackler clubbed a single to right to bring in a pair of runs and make 5-2.
Fackler would be erased from the bases after being caught stealing second, but Smeltzer scored later on a wild pitch during Kam Smith’s plate appearance to stretch the lead to 6-2.
Hilltop battled back in the third inning with a walk, single, and a Montpelier error to load the bases themselves with one away.
Shimp’s groundball led to the second Loco error of the inning as Schlosser and Rebeck scored to trim the Montpelier lead to 6-4.
Montpelier began to pull away in the fourth as a Plourde infield single, another walk to Cooley and a Smeltzer single to right brought across two runs.
After the Locos added a run in the fifth and Hilltop answered with a run in the top of the sixth to make it 9-5, Montpelier finished off a district championship with three in the bottom of the sixth.
Cooley reached base for the fourth time on the night, this time via a single, stole second during a Smeltzer at bat that ended in a walk, stole third and scored on an error by the Hilltop catcher for a 10-5 lead.
With Smeltzer now at third, Smith drew a walk, stole second base with Smeltzer stealing home at the same time and Smith would steal third before scoring on a wild pitch top put the Montpelier lead at 12-5.
Montpelier needed just seven hits, all singles, to produce their 12 runs as they were the beneficiaries of nine walks and four wild pitches from the Cadet pitching staff.
Schlosser and Rebeck each had two hits for Hilltop and Shimp knocked in two runs.
Montpelier, in their first trip to regionals since 2003, will face Fort Recovery (13-12) in the semifinals on May 30 at Ed Sandy Field in Elida. First pitch is scheduled for 5pm with the regional final set for Friday back in Elida.
HILLTOP 202 001 0 – 5 6 2
MONTPELIER 150 213 x – 12 7 3
Records: Hilltop 14-10, Montpelier 13-8
WINNING PITCHER: Richmond (7 innings, 6 hits, 5 runs, 2 earned, 7 strikeouts, 3 walks)
LOSING PITCHER: Schlosser (1.1 innings, 1 hit, 5 runs, 4 earned, 4 walks, 0 strikeouts) OTHER: W. Wagner, D. Dempsey
LEADING HITTERS: (Hilltop) Rebeck – double, single, RBI; Haynes – double; Schlosser – 2 singles; Shimp – single, 2 RBIs; (Montpelier) Cooley – single, 4 runs; Smeltzer – single, 2 RBIs, 2 runs; Fackler – 2 singles, 3 RBIs
