BASEBALL: St. Paul tops WR despite one hit

COLLINS — The St. Paul baseball team jumped out to a 5-0 lead after three innings and held off host Western Reserve despite just one hit in a 6-3 win on Friday in a Firelands Conference matchup. With the win, the Flyers improved to 14-3 overall and 8-0 in the FC, keeping them alone in first place with six games remaining. No. 1 starter Scotty Adelman again was strong on the mound for St. Paul. He went all seven innings, allowing three earned runs in the fourth inning while striking out 14 and walking one. In the first inning, Adelman drew a walk and stole two bases. A sacrifice fly by Eli Fisher scored him, and Tyler Perkins hit an RBI groundout that scored Adam Baker, who reached after being hit by a pitch. Leading 2-0, the Flyers got three more runs in the top of the third. Drew Kuhnle walked, then Adelman hit into a fielder's choice. He again stole second and advanced to third on an error that allowed Adam Baker to reach. Adelman scored the third run on another Western error, and Baker scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-0. Perkins also reached on an error, then advanced to third on the lone hit of the game — a single by Luke Blum. Perkins then scored on a double steal to push the lead out to 5-0. Trailing 6-0 in the fourth, Western (3-14, 2-5) scored three runs. Carson Roe singled and Matt Jarrett was hit by a pitch, then Jude Muenz delivered a double to score Roe. Logan Wiegel followed two batters later with a two-run double for a 6-3 deficit, but Adelman allowed just one hit and two base runners over the final three innings to put away the win. "I'm really proud of the kids — we finished off a grueling week of four conference games in five days with a 4-0 record," St. Paul head coach Aaron Fries said. "Today was a grind. We looked a little sluggish at the plate, but we were able to get guys on base in other ways, which allowed our run game to generate offense for us. "Scotty was outstanding again. I think we played catch better than Western today, and that was the difference in the game. They put better swings on the ball than we did, but anytime we had a chance to make a play in the field, we made it." St. Paul is at Mapleton on Tuesday, while the Roughriders visit South Central. St. Paul 203 100 0 — 6 1 0 W. Reserve 000 300 0 — 3 4 1 WP: Adelman; LP: Buchanan 2B: (WR) Muenz, Wiegel South Central 8, Crestview 7 (9 inn.) GREENWICH — The Trojans got the winning run on a hit batter with the bases loaded in extra innings from Blaine Wheeler to slip past the visiting Cougars on Friday, one day removed from coming up short by a run at Crestview, in an FC game at South Central High School. Trailing 7-5 in the bottom of the seventh, South Central (7-8, 5-3) got a leadoff triple from Sam Seidel, who then scored on an RBI double by Karl Ferber, who then stole third base. Carson Music then sacrifice bunted to first, and the only play in the field for the Cougars was at first base as Ferber scored to tie the game and force extra innings. Seidel hit a one-out single in the bottom of the ninth, then Ferber and Music both walked to load the bases. Wheeler was then hit by a 1-1 pitch to force in Seidel for the winning run. Ferber had two doubles and three RBIs, while Seidel was 2 for 4 and scored three times. David Lamoreaux also hit a solo home run for the Trojans. Wheeler started and went the first 5 1/3 inning son the mound. He allowed seven runs (five earned) on 10 hits with three strikeouts and two walks. Shane Vanderpool threw the last 3 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit with seven strikeouts and two walks. Crestview 100 303 000 — 7 11 1 S. Central 010 022 201 — 8 9 4 WP: Vanderpool; LP: J. Ringler 2B: (C) M. Ringler, Myers; (SC) Ferber 2, Hauler; 3B: (SC) Seidel; HR: (SC) Lamoreaux Plymouth 8, Monroeville 2 PLYMOUTH — The Big Red remained one game behind St. Paul in the FC with Friday's home win over the Eagles on Friday. Luke Hamann finished 3 for 4 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored for the Big Red, who improved to 9-5 overall (7-1 FC). Zeth Goth was 2 for 4 with two RBIs, and Zach Hamann was 2 for 4 and also scored twice. Clayton Miller went six strong innings for Plymouth, allowing two earned runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and no walks. Cole Wentz struck out the side in the seventh. For Monroeville (0-12, 0-7), Meritt Key was 2 for 3 with an RBI and Daniel Smith was 2 for 3 and scored a run. Austin Nichols, Toby Tester and Duncan Steward each singled. Key allowed seven earned runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts and three walks in six innings of work. Monroeville 000 002 0 — 2 7 2 Plymouth 100 124 x — 8 10 1 WP: Miller; LP: Key 2B: (M) Nichols; (P) L. Hamann, Sparks Mapleton 5, New London 0 ORANGE TWP. — Mapleton ace Kaleb Stafford (12 strikeouts) tossed a complete-game, four-hit shutout to lead the Mounties (7-6, 5-2) past New London in an FC game on Friday. With the loss, the Wildcats fell to 3-7 overall and 2-6 in the FC.