WAPAKONETA — After nonconference losses to Coldwater and Marion Local in the last two weeks, Fort Loramie was looking for a marquee nonconference win against rival Minster on Saturday.
Fort Loramie senior Christian McGee pitched a no-hitter to earn the squad that type of win in the Prep Baseball Report Showcase at Wapakoneta High School. McGee struck out 10 batters in seven innings to help the Redskins earn a 2-1 win over the Wildcats.
The game wasn’t without late drama.
McGee walked three batters in the fifth and had two wild pitches, the last of which allowed Minster’s James Niemeyer to score from third to cut the gap to 2-1. But the three outs McGee recorded were all strikeouts, including a strikeout of Chase Couse with two runners on to get out of the inning.
McGee walked Tyler Stueve to start the sixth, and Stueve advanced to third after a sacrifice bunt and ground out. But McGee struck out Brady Wolf to get out of the inning and stand Stueve on third.
McGee walked Alex Schmitmeyer with two outs in the seventh but then drew a line out to end the game and preserve a no-hitter.
McGee gave up one earned run on seven walks.
Minster’s Nathan Beair pitched a complete game and gave up two earned runs on five hits. He struck out six batters and didn’t walk any.
McGee walked the first two batters of the game. But Couse was picked off trying to steal, Logan Kohne stuck out and Beair hit into a fly out to end the inning.
The Redskins took the lead in the bottom of the second. Collin Lessing hit a line-drive single to left field, then Darren Eilerman hit a double to left.
Max Cotner hit a sacrifice fly to center to drive in Lessing, then Will Hoying hit a hard ground ball single to left field to drive in Eilerman. Beair then struck out Logan Eilerman, and Minster catcher Ian Homan picked off Hoying at first to end the inning.
Hoying was 2 for 2 with 1 RBI. Lessing was 1 for 1 and Darren Eilerman was 1 for 2.
It was the first loss for Minster (5-1), which beat Marion Local 10-3 in both teams’ Midwest Athletic Conference opener earlier in the week. Minster beat Covington 9-2 in a nonconference game on Monday,
Fort Loramie, which lost 9-4 to Marion Local in a nonconference game on Tuesday, improved to 5-2 with the win. The Redskins edged Jackson Center 4-2 on Thursday to stay undefeated in SCAL play.
Fort Loramie beat Fairlawn 13-3 in an SCAL game on Monday. The Redskins are 4-0 in league games, while Russia is 2-0. Russia is scheduled to travel to Fort Loramie this Monday.
Contact Bryant Billing at (937) 538-4818, or follow @SidneyOHSports on Twitter and @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook.