Staff report
Top-seeded Lehman again rode the strong pitching of Parker Riley and overcame a penchant for striking out in advancing to the finals in the Division 4 Sectional Baseball Tournament.
The Cavaliers were expected to have their hands full with Mechanicsburg in the semifinals Tuesday at Lehman, but Riley survived a tough time early and his teammates got some key hits behind him to post an 8-0 shutout.
The win sets up a showdown between the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds. The 22-3 Cavs will take on county rival Russia next Wednesday (May 17) at Sidney High School for the right to advance to the district finals.
Lehman scored seven times despite 12 of their 18 outs in the game coming via the strikeout.
“We were in trouble early,” said Lehman coach Dave King. “They got four of their five hits in the first two innings and threatened in both. But Parker really settled down after that.”
Riley struck out four and walked none in going the distance. He is unbeaten over the last two seasons.
Dylan Arnold had a three-run homer for Lehman to go with a single, Bryce Kennedy had two hits and drove in three runs, and Brandon Barhorst had a double and scored three times. Jared Magoteaux scored twice.
The linescore:
`R`H`E
Mech’burg`000 000 0—0`5`3
Lehman`003 401 x—8`7`1
Bogan (LP), Hurst (4), Newsome (5) and Shelton; Riley and Smith.
Records: Lehman 22-3, Mechanicsburg 14-7.
——
Russia 9, Covington 1
RUSSIA — No. 2-seeded Russia advanced to the lower bracket sectional championship game with a 9-1 victory over visiting Covington in semifinal action at Russia Wednesday.
The win puts the Raiders at 18-5 on the year and advances them to the sectional final next Wednesday (May 17) at Sidney High School against top-seeded Lehman.
The Raiders got excellent pitching from Jack Dapore, who got all but the final two outs and allowed just one hit to the Buccaneers, with 13 strikeouts and just one walk.
Hunter Cohee led the offense with three hits, and Dylan Cordonnier and Kevn Drees added two hits apiece. Drew Sherman had a triple and Cordonnier and Trenton Monnin both doubled.
Cohee drove in three runs and Cordonnier two, while Dion Puthoff, Cordonnier and Sherman all scored twice.
The linescore:
`R`H`E
Covington`000 000 1—1`1`4
Russia`150 201 x—9`10`0
Blei (LP); Atkinson (3) and Dilley; Dapore (WP), Drees (7) and Drees, Monnin (7).
Records: Russia 18-5, Covington 4-17.
——
Loramie 9, Riverside 1
FORT LORAMIE — Fort Loramie, the No. 4 seed, also advanced to the sectional finals with an 11-1 victory over visiting Riverside in semifinal play Wednesday at Loramie.
The Redskins advance to play third-seeded Triad next Wednesday (May 17) at Piqua’s Hardman Field in the sectional finals.
The score was deceiving Wednesday, with Fort Loramie holding a slim 3-1 lead after five-and a-half innings. But the Redskins exploded for eight runs in the sixth and that ended the game on the run rule.
For Loramie, Eli Rosengarten was 3-for-4, CJ Billing singled and doubled, and Mason Kemper added two hits.
The linescore:
`R`H`E
Riverside`100 000—1`5`1
Loramie`200 018—11`9`2
WP: Rosengarten; LP: Sanford
Records: Loramie 16-10, Riverside 15-12.
——
Division 3
Anna 11, East Clinton 1
ANNA — Top-seeded Anna’s first tournament outing lasted only six innings and the Rockets scored in every one of them to come away with an 11-1 win in action at Anna Wednesday.
Since Anna had a first-round bye, the win puts the Rockets in the sectional championship on May 17 at Tecumseh against either Northeastern or Greeneview.
Anna, 17-7 now, got a route-going effort on the mound from Mitchell Lindsey, who pitched a two-hitter with five strikeouts.
He had plenty of run support. The Rockets had a 4-0 lead after three, then put together back-to-back three-run innings.
Colin Wuebker led an 11-hit attack with three hits and three runs batted in. Aidan Endsley and Nathan Frilling both added two hits and two runs scored, and one of Frilling’s hits was a double.
Caleb Kauffman scored three times and both Zach White and Derek Coverstone drove in two runs.
The linescore:
`R`H`E
EC`000 100—1`2`4
Anna`211 331—11`11`1
Cornwell (LP), Smith (2), Hall (5), Mitchell (5) and Arellano; Lindsey and White.
Records: Anna 17-7, East Clinton 5-17.
——
Regular season
JC 15, Fairlawn 0
Jackson Center pitcher Jacob Francis through a five-inning no-hitter on Tuesday as the Tigers rolled over Fairlawn 15-0 in County baseball action.
The Tigers are now 4-7 in the league and 6-13 overall. Fairlawn is 0-11 and 1-16.
Francis struck out nine and walked three in his five innings of work.
Bryce Sosby had three hits and Corbin Murphy and Coltin Rose two each for Jackson. Francis added a triple.
• Fairlawn also lost in its tournament opener on Monday, 14-0 to Mechanicsburg.
The linescore:
`R`H`E
Jackson`814 20—15`8`1
Fairlawn`000 00—0`0`9
WP: Francis; LP: Graves
Records: JC 6-13, Fairlawn 1-16.
