Columbian hands Norwalk third league loss

NORWALK — Little explanation was needed. There are times after a loss where the team on the wrong end of the defeat can lament things that didn't go their way. That wasn't the case for the Norwalk baseball team on Monday following a 7-3 loss to visiting Tiffin Columbian in an SBC Lake Division game at Norwalk High School. "In general, we just got outplayed," Norwalk head coach Wes Douglas said after the Truckers fell to 8-7 overall and 4-3 in the Lake. "Ian (Minor) and Eli (Obringer) pitched pretty well, but I thought Tiffin played with more energy and a little cleaner in the field. "They were able to string together their hits a little more than we did. They didn't make many mistakes to give us any extra outs," he added. "It was a solid pitching performance, and we just didn't play well enough to win." Columbian (7-4, 2-4) struck right away as the leadoff batter, Bissell, reached on an error and scored on an RBI single by Myers for a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. The Tornadoes added two more runs in the top of the third, as a walk and a single set up starting pitcher Carson Mellott for an RBI single to help his cause for a 2-0 lead. Jaden Myers followed with a sacrifice fly to center to extend the lead to 3-0. In the bottom of the third, Evan Gaston drew a one-out walk for the Truckers and advanced to third on a single by Sam Battles. Gaston then scored on an error at first base, and Battles moved to second on the same error. Obringer singled to again put runners at the corners, and Minor followed with a two-out double to cut the deficit to 3-2 after three innings. The Tornadoes got one run back in the top of the fourth, as a one-out single and an error moved a runner to third, which then scored when Griffin Bunting hit a sacrifice fly to center. Trailing 4-2, Brayson Malson opened the bottom of the fourth with a single, and pinch runner Jesse Cole reached second on an error, then advanced to third on a groundout by Isaac Scheel. Thomas Gfefll then took the first pitch he saw and drove it to left field to score Cole and cut the deficit to 4-3. But Mellott got consecutive strikeouts to end the inning. Columbian then took that momentum in the top of the fifth. Brayden Tucker singled, and with one out Myers added an RBI single, then Tandon Lemmon hit a double to put runners at second and third with one out. The Tornadoes then scored when David Auble hit a hard grounder that was mishandled and everyone was safe. After a single for the third hit of the inning, Minor struck out Bunting to end his day after five innings. The Tornadoes added another run in the top of the sixth to go up 7-3. Meanwhile, Mellott shut the door, retiring nine of the next 11 Norwalk batters around a single each by Minor and Battles in the fifth and seventh innings. Mellot threw 105 pitches in the complete-game outing, allowing the three runs (two earned) on nine hits with seven strikeouts and one walk. Battles finished 3 for 4 for the Truckers, and Minor was 2 for 3. Obringer, Cale Sommers, Malson and Gfell each had one hit. Minor went the first five innings and allowed six runs, three of which were earned, on eight hits. He struck out seven and walked two on 95 pitches (60 strikes). Obringer pitched the final two innings, allowing an earned run on two hits. Norwalk had won the first meeting, 5-2, on March 31 in Tiffin. The Truckers are now three games behind league-leading Perkins ahead of Wednesday's scheduled trip to Clyde. Norwalk is then scheduled to be off the remainder of the week before visiting Perkins next Monday. "It's our third league loss, so we have to keep fighting and keep trying to get better," Douglas said. "We're going to have a little more practice time this week with the schedule having a little bit of a break. We can also get some guys rested up here — we've played 15 games played in the first 23 days. "But that's almost everybody so that's not an excuse, as we're pretty healthy," he added. "We just didn't find a way to get it done today." Columbian 102 121 0 — 7 10 2 Norwalk 002 100 0 — 3 9 6 WP: Mellott; LP: Minor 2B: (TC) Lemmon; Roggow; (N) Minor