Shawnee jumps out early in WBL win

ELIDA - The week before the sectional tournament can be a tricky week.

Baseball coaches want to prime their teams for tournament play, but at the same time, keep them focused on winning their remaining league games.

Shawnee coach Chad Spencer seemed pleased at the way his team accomplished both in Thursday’s 10-4 victory over Elida in Western Buckeye League action at Ed Sandy Field.

Shawnee (11-8, 4-3 WBL) pounded 13 base hits and also got a solid pitching performance from Trey Runneals.

Dominic Crea led Shawnee at the plate, going 4-for-4, while teammates Jared Dupes and Jeremy Stoner each had two hits for the Indians.

Austin Zuber led Elida (8-12, 3-6), going 3-for-4 at the plate.

Runneals was the workhorse on the mound for Shawnee, pitching the full seven innings. The junior right-hander scattered seven hits, while striking out four and walking four. He threw 116 pitches in his complete-game performance.

Spencer said Runneals did a good job of working through a couple tough innings. Between the third and fourth innings, Elida stranded a total of five baserunners.

"It wasn’t his strongest outing," Spencer said of Runneals. "But, some days you just have to push through it and find a way. He battled and finished strong."

Sophomore Jacob Porter started on the mound for Elida. Porter, a right-hander, worked 2 1/3 innings before being lifted. Another sophomore, David Diller, moved over from his third base position to take over on the mound in the third.

Porter was tabbed for eight runs on six hits, while walking three batters. Diller worked the final 4 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits. Diller struck out one and walked five.

Elida coach Mark Thompson said his team could not afford missed opportunities against a team like Shawnee.

"It’s one of those things where we needed to be clean," Thompson said. "They (Shawnee) had some nice clutch hitting. We were close to closing out some of those innings, but just couldn’t do it."

Both teams left eight baserunners stranded. Shawnee scored two runs in the second, but left the bases filled. Elida came away empty handed in the fourth, when they had the bases loaded.

Spencer said he wants to see his team get better as the season progresses.

"The one thing I want to see at this point of the season is that we show improvement," Spencer said. "We want to be better by the end of the day."

Shawnee jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, when Runneals blasted a shot to deep left field, driving in both Cory Wilder and Crea. The throw from the outfield was not cut off and Runneals came in to score as well.

Elida scored a run in the home half of the first, on a double to left by Mackenzie Hampshire.

Shawnee scored two more runs in the second to pull out to a 5-1 lead. Brodey Williams had a two-out single that plated both runs.

Ryan Musgrave, the No. 9 hitter for Elida, drove in a run in the second with a double to left, cutting the deficit to 5-2.

However, Shawnee scored three more in the third and then two more in the fourth. Clint Spencer drove in two in the third with a base hit to left. In the fourth, Jeremy Stoner had two RBIs with a single to left.

Elida scored two runs on just two hits in the third. Shawnee committed two errors in the inning to help the Elida cause.

Coach Spencer said he wants to rest his top two pitchers, Jared Dupes and Runneals, over the weekend. Shawnee will play Celina Monday at 5 p.m. in a sectional final at Elida.

"We’ll play Russia in a doubleheader on Saturday, to keep ourselves ready," Spencer said. "Obviously, this was Trey’s last outing (until the tournament). We’ll have both Trey and Jared rested for Monday. So, we’ll see then, who will start."

Elida opens sectional play on Saturday at noon at Ed Sandy Field, when they take on St. Marys.