FORT LORAMIE — Fort Loramie won its invitational on Saturday by beating rival Minster for the second time in two weeks.
The Redskins beat the Wildcats 4-0 in the championship game to win the Fort Loramie Invitational and improve to 11-2 overall.
Fort Loramie, which beat Minster 2-1 in the PBR Showcase at Wapakoneta on April 8, scored one run in each of the first three innings and added another in the fifth.
Gabe Hart pitched a complete game on the mound and struck out 10 batters while walking four. He allowed one hit, which came in the fifth inning.
Collin Lessing led off the first with a line-drive single to left, then Dylan Sanders walked. Maverick Grudich then hit an RBI single to center field to give the Redskins a 1-0 lead.
Will Hoying and Roger Hoying each drew walks to start the second. Will Hoying advanced to third on a wild pitch, then scored on a ground out by Christian McGee.
Lessing drew a walk to start the third. He advanced to second on a wild pitch, then scored on a line-drive single to center by Grudich to give Fort Loramie a 3-0 lead.
Sanders and Grudich each singled to start the fifth, then Max Cotner hit an RBI single to left.
The Wildcats went down in order in the sixth and seventh.
Minster’s best chance came in the first inning when Hart walked two batters. But with runners at the corners with one out, Hart struck out Nathan Beair and coaxed a ground out from Brady Wolf to get out of the inning.
Grudich was 3 for 3 with 2 RBIs. Fort Loramie had six hits and committed two errors. Minster committed one error.
Fort Loramie beat Indian Lake 3-2 in its first game to advance to the championship game.
Both squads scored two runs in the third, but Fort Loramie scored one run in the fifth to pull ahead and held on.
Cotner started the fifth off with a single to center field on a ground ball. He moved to second on a ground out, and with two outs, Roger Hoying hit an RBI single to left field to put the Redskins ahead by one run.
Indian Lake took a 2-0 lead after three hits and one walk in the top of the third, but Fort Loramie answered in the bottom half.
Sanders drew walk, Grudich was hit by a pitch and Cotner hit an RBI single on a line drive to left field to cut the gap to 2-1. Levi Gephart was then hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Grudich scored on a ground out by Will Hoying to tie it up.
The Redskins had seven hits and didn’t commit an error. The Lakers had six hits and committed three errors.
Christian McGee picked up the win on the mound. He pitched 6 2/3 innings and gave up two earned runs on six hits and six walks. He struck out 10 batters.
Cotner was 2 for 3 while Lessing was 2 for 4. Calvin Hoying hit one double.
Fort Loramie improved to 12-2 overall by beating Botkins 12-2 in a Shelby County Athletic League game on Monday. They had six hits and took advantage of five errors by the Trojans. Gephart was 3 for 3 with 2 RBIs, and Sanders picked up the win on the mound after giving up four hits and walk in three scoreless innings.
Fort Loramie was scheduled to host Russia in a big SCAL game on Tuesday. The two squads were undefeated in league play entering the contest.
The Redskins are scheduled to travel to Springfield Northwestern on Thursday and to host St. Henry in Saturday.
Minster beat Bethel 5-4 in its first game on Saturday to advance to the championship game. Indian Lake beat Bethel 1-0 in the consolation game on Saturday.
Contact Bryant Billing at (937) 538-4818, or follow @SidneyOHSports on Twitter and @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook.
