Shawnee pounds Celina in sectional

ELIDA — Shawnee right-hander Trey Runneals didn’t have to look at the scoreboard to know he was in control.

After Shawnee scored eight in the second inning, Runneals was able to lean heavily on his Grade A fastball and throw strikes.

Runneals fired a one-hitter to help the Indians to a 14-0, five-inning victory over Celina in the Division II baseball sectional championship game Monday at Elida’s Ed Sandy Field.

Shawnee scored eight in the second and tacked on six in the third to take a 14-0 lead. The Indians pounded out 14 hits.

“It’s great to have that much run support. You can relax on the mound and throw strikes and let your defense do the work,” Runneals said.

Shawnee (13-9) advances to the district semifinals to meet the Bath-Fostoria winner at 4 p.m. May 19 at Bluffton University. Celina is 11-10.

In the completion of the sectional semifinal game, St. Marys held on for a 3-1 victory over Elida.

Runneals struck out eight and walked none. He threw 62 pitches, 47 for strikes. Of the 62 pitches, he said only seven or eight were breaking balls.

“That (the fastball) was what was working and they couldn’t catch up to it so I didn’t need it (the breaking ball),” Runneals said.

Runneals allowed only two baserunners to reach, both in the final fifth inning. Derek Waterman struck out to start the fifth, but he reached first on a wild pitch. With one out, Ryan Paulus broke up the no-hitter with a single to center.

“Trey had a masterful day,” Shawnee coach Chad Spencer said. “He got ahead and pounded the zone.”

In the regular season, Celina knocked off Shawnee 2-0 behind a one-hit performance by lefty Mike Siefker.

But this time around, Siefker only lasted two innings, giving up eight runs, five earned, on nine hits.

Cory Wilder opened the Shawnee second with a bloop single to right. Runneals and Sam Altenbach followed with back-to-back perfect bunt singles to load the bases.

“We had great placement on the bunts and the other thing we’ve been working on, especially in preparation for this game was hitting oppo (to the opposite field),” Spencer said.

Jared Dupes hit a two-run single to right and Shawnee was on its way, 2-0. Jeremy Stone’s RBI single gave Shawnee a 3-0 lead. Dominic Crea’s two-run single to right made it 5-0. Altenbach had a two-run single to make it 8-0 in the second.

For the game, Runneals went 3 for 4 with an RBI. Altenbach was 3 for 4 with three RBIs. Brodey Williams was 2 for 4 with an RBI. Stoner was 2 for 4 with two RBIs.

St. Marys 3, Elida 1

St. Marys led 3-1 in the home sixth inning when the game was stopped on Saturday because of rain. The game finished up on Monday with the score staying the same.

Derek Roop picked up the win, going all seven innings and giving up one run on three hits. He struck out 10 and walked six over 107 pitches.

St. Marys (10-8) will meet Wapakoneta in the sectional finals at 5 p.m. on Wednesday. Elida is 7-11.

The only surprise was that Roop finished up on Monday, throwing the seventh inning after tossing 98 pitches on Saturday. Roop needed only nine pitches to pitch a no-run, one-hit seventh.

“He was on a pitch count and we weren’t going to let him go very long,” St. Marys coach Dave Huber said. “We were going to let him throw 15 pitches.”

Roop said, “Honestly, I didn’t think I was going to be able to come back today because usually the second day after I throw my arm hurts pretty bad, but it felt really good today.”

Elida starter Dalton Martz went five innings and gave up three unearned runs on three hits. He struck out five and walked four.

Elida has three non-league games left before Elida coach Mark Thompson will officially call it a career.

“This will be it. I had fun this year,” Thompson said.