Hampshire keys Elida tournament win; Van Wert, Celina advance

ELIDA - Deep, deeper and deepest.

That is the best way to describe the three home runs Elida senior first baseman Matt Hampshire drilled to propel the Bulldogs to a 7-4 Division II baseball sectional tournament win over Wapakoneta in a game played at Ed Sandy Field at Elida.

In other sectional games at Elida on Saturday, Van Wert beat Kenton 5-1 while Celina defeated St. Marys 7-4.

For Elida, Hampshire wasted no time as he blasted a ball down the left-field line with two outs in the top of the first inning. The ball traveled approximately 320 feet and gave the Bulldogs a quick 1-0 lead.

Wapakoneta bounced back with four hits off Elida starter Steven Swick in the bottom of the first but only scored twice when a double play and a pop out stranded runners at second and third.

"We're both young teams and it could be a different game if we can jump out to a bigger lead." Redskins coach Jason Brandt said. "We didn't take advantage of our opportunities in the first inning."

The score remained 2-1 until Hampshire blasted his second home run in the fourth inning to deep left center field. Swick doubled and Elida grabbed the lead when second baseman Shane Conrad singled Swick home.

With Elida clinging to a 3-2 lead in the top of the fifth inning and runners on first and second with one out, Hampshire strolled to the plate expecting to be walked. Wapakoneta chose to pitch to him and Hampshire smashed his third homer, giving the Bulldogs a 6-2 lead.

"It's the first time I've ever hit three in a game, it's like a wild dream." Hampshire said. "The first two came on curves and the third was a fastball; I really thought that they would walk me."

"I didn't want to walk the bases loaded with only one out in a one-run game." Brandt said. "He's a great player."

The Bulldogs advance to face top-seeded Shawnee at 11 a.m. Saturday for the right to advance to the Archbold District.

Van Wert 5, Kenton 1

Eric Miller threw a complete game four hitter for Van Wert while striking out four and walking none. Alan Leatherman led the Cougars offense attack with two doubles. Van Wert will take on Celina at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Celina 7, St. Marys 4

Celina's Darin Waterman got the pitching victory thanks in large part to a pair of two-run doubles he stroked at the plate. The second one came in the top of the seventh inning and broke a 4-4 tie.

Waterman pitched six innings before giving way to Travis Stachler who pitched a perfect seventh to record the save for Celina.

"Darin's a bulldog but he had already thrown 105 pitches so I brought in Stachler." Celina coach Drew Braun said. "We've been waiting to hit the ball like this all year and Darin's hitting was a big key."