TIPP CITY — Tippecanoe starter Kenten Egbert threw a curveball that had Sidney’s Brandon Rose tumbling out of the batter’s box to avoid getting hit, only to have it bend back over the back door for a called strike.
“That feels really good. That’s probably one of the best feelings you can get as a pitcher (to see a batter do that),” the Red Devil senior said.
He had that feeling a lot Monday.
Egbert punched out 16 Sidney batters in a complete-game shutout Monday, allowing only two hits and one walk in a masterful effort as Tippecanoe returned home from its Florida trip to kick off Greater Western Ohio Conference American North Division play with a 3-0 victory over the Yellow Jackets at Tippecanoe Middle School.
For Sidney, the only two hits didn’t make it out of the infield — Rose beat out a slow-rolling infield single in the first inning and Ryan Cagle beat out a sharp grounder to third with two outs in the second. From there, Egbert retired the next 16 straight, striking out six straight at one point and striking out the side three times in total — including in the seventh to wrap things up after only an hour and a half.
It’s something Tippecanoe’s opposition — and the Devils’ own defense — may have to get used to this season, with the Devils boasting a pair of Division I college commits in their rotations. Egbert is going to Miami (Ohio) and Ian Yunker is committed to Morehead State.
Jack Cleckner drew a one-out walk in the first inning, stole second and took third on a wild pitch, then Cade Beam drew a walk to put runners on the corners. Nolan Mader and Egbert then hit back-to-back RBI singles to left that put the Devils up 2-0 on Sidney starter Mitch Larger.
In the third, Tippecanoe loaded the bases after a single by Egbert, a walk by Yunker and an infield single by Matt Salmon, then Eli Hadden drew an RBI walk to make it a three-run game.
Anna 7, Russia 1
Anna scored five runs in the final three innings to blow open at Shelby County Athletic League game at Russia on Monday.
The Rockets scored two runs in the second inning to take control then added one in the fifth to go ahead 3-0. Russia scored one in the bottom of the fifth but Anna scored three runs on three hits, two walks and an error in the top of the sixth to pull away. The Rockets added another run in the seventh.
Anna had eight hits and four errors while Russia had five hits and five errors.
Jarred Siegle and Tyler McClay were each 2 for 4 with 1 RBI for Anna. Brayden Collier was 2 for 2 with 2 RBIs, two runs and one walk. Siegle had a double.
Carter Elliott earned the win for Anna. He gave up three hits in five innings and had six strikeouts with one walk.
Daniel Kearns was charged with the loss. He allowed three earned runs on four hits in 5 1/3 innings and had nine strikeouts and three walks.
Gavin George was 2 for 3 for Russia and Evan Monnier was 2 for 4.
Fairlawn 4, Botkins 0
The Jets took a 1-0 lead in the first inning and controlled things from there in a home SCAL game on Monday.
Fairlawn added one run in the third and two in the fifth. The Jets had 11 hits and no errors while Botkins had five hits and no errors.
Skyler Piper was 3 for 4 for Fairlawn and scored three runs. Ethan Westerbeck was 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs while Drew Maddy was 2 for 2 with 1 RBI and Kyle Peters was 2 for 3 with 1 RBI.
Keith Orndorff pitched a complete game for Fairlawn. He had nine strikeouts and six walks.
Botkins statistics were not reported.
Fort Loramie 12, Houston 0
The Redskins won with a dominating performance in five innings on Monday. They scored four in the first and six in the second to take a double-digit lead.
Fort Loramie loaded the bases in the first inning and Ben Barhorst hit a line drive to left field to bring in two runs. In the second, Barhorst again had 2 RBIs on a hit to break the game open.
CJ Billing, Eli Rosengarten and Noah Guillozet combined in the one-hitter for the Redskins on the mound. Billing started and gave up the game’s only hit on a leadoff single by Howie Ludwig in the first inning. Rosengarten pitched the third and fourth innings and Guillozet closed it out.
Barhorst finished 2 for 2 at the plate.
Jackson Center 9, Covington 9
The Tigers tied in a nonconference game on Monday in Covington.
Jackson Center scored two runs in the top of the seventh but Covington scored four runs in the bottom of the inning to tie it. The Tigers scored two runs in the third in three in the fourth, but the Buccaneers scored five in the fifth to tie it 5-5. Jackson Center took the lead with two runs in the sixth.
Jackson Center had 10 hits and five errors while Covington had three hits and three errors.
Jacob Francis was 3 for 3 for the Tigers with 2 RBIs and four runs. He hit two home runs.
Christopher Elchert was 2 for 3 with two walks and Jacob Vetter was 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs. Elchert had a double.
Carson Regula pitched 4 1/3 innings for Jackson Center and allowed two hits with nine strikeouts and two walks. Elchert pitched 2 1/3 innings and allowed four earned runs on one hit and four walks. He had four strikeouts.
Lehman Catholic 15, Waynesfield-Goshen 1
The Cavaliers dominated a road Northwest Central Conference game on Monday.
Ethan Potts picked up the win for Lehman. He had seven strikeouts and didn’t allow a walk.
Bryce Kennedy had two hits and Alex Keller and Brandyn Sever had 2 RBIs apiece. Sever and Johnny Cianciolo both doubled.
Minster at Wapakoneta, ppd.
Monday’s game was postponed due to a wet field.
St. Marys at New Bremen, ppd.
Monday’s game was postponed due to a wet field.
Hardin Northern at Riverside, ppd.
Monday’s game was postponed to Wednesday due to a wet field.
SOFTBALL
Tippecanoe 12, Sidney 4
The Yellow Jackets dropped their season opener on Monday in Tipp City.
The Red Devils scored four runs in the bottom of the first to take control but Sidney scored two in the fourth to pull within 4-2. Tippecanoe closed it out with six runs in the fifth inning.
Each of Sidney’s nine players in the lineup had one hit. Naida Stephens had a double and 1 RBI, and Jenna Smith and Allie Herrick each had 1 RBI and one stolen base. Carleigh Rinehart also had a stolen base.
Lauren Barker was charged with the loss. She had 10 strikeouts and four walks.
Houston 6, Fort Loramie 3
The Redskins gave up six unearned runs as Houston prevailed in a road SCAL game on Monday.
Fort Loramie had two outs in the first but made an error, after which the Wildcats’ bats went to work. They pushed across four runs to take control.
Houston scored a run in the fifth on a passed ball and scored another in the sixth after a leadoff error by Fort Loramie.
The Wildcats had 10 hits and two errors while Fort Loramie had five hits and three errors.
Allisen Foster was 3 for 4 with 1 RBI for Houston while Riley Voisard was 2 for 4 with 3 RBIs. Voisard hit a home run.
Emilee Foster earned the win. She allowed three earned runs and had six strikeouts in seven innings with no walks.
Aleah Frilling was charged with the loss. She had five strikeouts in seven innings with one walk.
Frilling, Katelyn DeLoye and Macy Imwalle doubled for Fort Loramie.
Botkins 6, Fairlawn 5
After falling behind 4-2, the Trojans rallied to earn a road SCAL win on Monday.
Botkins took a 2-0 lead in the second but Fairlawn scored four runs in the third to take a two-run lead. The Trojans scored one run in the fourth and then took control with three runs in the third inning.
The Jets scored one run in the seventh but couldn’t complete a comeback try.
The Trojans had six hits and no errors while Fairlawn had five hits and one error.
Olivia Jones was 3 for 4 for Botkins with 2 RBIs and one run.
Corey Sutton picked up the win in the circle for Botkins. She allowed four earned runs on five hits in seven innings and had nine strikeouts with four walks.
Skylar Jones was charged with the loss. She allowed five earned runs on six hits in seven innings with six strikeouts and six walks.
Renee Gent was 2 for 3. She had a double and had an RBI-triple in the seventh. Alexia Graves was 3 for 3. Madison Pierce had a double.
Lehman Catholic at Waynesfield-Goshen, ppd.
Monday’s game was postponed due to a wet field.
Wapakoneta at New Bremen, ppd.
Monday’s game was postponed due to a wet field.
Hardin Northern at Riverside, ppd.
Monday’s game was postponed to Wednesday due to a wet field.
BOYS TENNIS
Wapakoneta 3, Sidney 2
Sidney lost its first match of the season on Monday at Wapakoneta to fall to 3-1 overall.
Prem Dev lost 6-3, 7-5 at first singles while Grant Hoying won 6-4, 6-1 at second singles and Akansh Mani won 3-6, 7-6 (8-6 set tiebreaker), 6-1.
TJ Leonard and Broc Bey lost 6-0, 6-2 at first doubles and Jersain Brux and Kazuma Okada lost 7-6, 7-4 (set tiebreaker), 6-4.
Lehman Catholic 5, Celina 0
Lehman Catholic improved to 3-1 with a 5-0 win over Celina on Monday in its home opener.
“It was our first home match of the season,” Lehman coach Tim Ungericht said. “We had a very nice turnout of our parents, students and some people from the community. It’s always nice to have that support.”
In singles, Danny Lins won 6-2, 6-1; Sam Gilardi won 6-1, 6-3; and Max Schmiesing won 6-4, 6-2.
In doubles, Elias Bezy and Elijah Jock won 6-0, 6-1 and Sean Toner and Cole Kramer won 6-0, 6-0.
“It was great for Danny (Lins) to get his first win of the season and our doubles continued to play very well,” Ungericht said. “It was our first win over Celina in five years.”
