OUT AT HOME … North Central catcher Connor Gendron tags Redskin Drew Schwieterman for the final out of the third inning to keep the score 2-0 in favor of St. Henry. (PHOTO BY RICH HARDING / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
By: Nate Calvin
ELIDA (JUNE 1, 2023) – After being held in-check by St. Henry starting pitcher Lucas Clune for the first four innings, North Central mounted scoring threats in the last three innings.
The Eagles loaded the bags in each inning but could produce just one run as they left ten runners on base for the day in falling 5-1 to the Redskins at Ed Sandy Field in Elida.
It was St. Henry which had the game’s first bases loaded scoring chance in the first inning as St. Henry’s first three hitters reached base off Eagle starter Sam Moore.
Moore then buckled down to induce two flyouts and a strikeout in between to escape the inning with no damage done.
St. Henry would capitalize on an opportunity in the second with some timely two-out hitting.
First, Logan Link singled to score Nolan Kunkler, who opened the inning with a walk, and then a Bryce Burkhart single to center was mishandled which allowed Link to come around and score to make it 2-0.
The top of the fifth saw the Redskins again do damage with two outs as Drew Schwieterman singled and moved to third after a sacrifice bunt and groundout to first.
Another walk to Klunker was followed by a Caden Bergman two-run double to left field to stretch the lead to 4-0.
Devin Delzeith would then provide the final St. Henry run of the game with an RBI single to left, scoring Bergman, and increasing the advantage to 5-0.
The Eagles first scoring chance of the day would come in the fifth as Johnny Hicks walked, Ethan Beard reached on an error, and Jake Turner walked to load the bases with one out.
Clune turned the Eagles away though as he would record a strikeout and get Quin Burt to pop out to shortstop to end the frame.
Another bases loaded opportunity presented itself to North Central in the sixth with a single and two walks loading the bags with no outs.
With Ethan Nietfeld now on to pitch for St. Henry after the first two Eagles reached base in the inning, Ben Pettit lined a single to right to drive in Kenneth Smeltzer to get North Central on the board.
That would be the lone run of the inning for the Eagles as Nietfield struck out the next two batters and then Turner popped out to second to end the inning.
North Central mounted one more challenge in their final at-bat as Moore started the inning with a base hit, Burt walked, and Connor Gendron singled after Smeltzer struck out to again load the bases for the Eagles with one away.
Delzieth was able to close things out for St. Henry on the hill by inducing a popout and groundout to send the Redskins to tonight’s regional final.
Bergman spearheaded the St. Henry offense with three hits on the day and knocked in two runs.
St. HENRY 020 030 0 – 5 12 1
N. CENTRAL 000 001 0 – 1 5 2
Records: North Central 13-7, St. Henry 23-6
WINNING PITCHER: Clune (5 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, 1 earned, 4 strikeouts, 4 walks) Other: Nietfeld, Delzeith
LOSING PITCHER: Moore (4.2 innings, 10 hits, 5 runs, 4 earned, 3 strikeouts, 3 walks) Other: Pettit
LEADING HITTERS: (St. Henry) C. Bergman – double, 2 singles, 2 RBIs; Brookhart – 2 singles; D. Schwieterman – 2 singles; Delzieth – 2 singles, RBI; (North Central) – 5 singles
Nate can be reached at sports@thevillagereporter.com