LCC edges Bath with pitching, defense

COLDWATER - It turned into a pitchers duel, but it took a while.

And when it came down to crunch time in Lima Central Catholic's 3-2 win over Bath in the Division III baseball sectional on Saturday, it wasn't just their arms the pitchers were using.

LCC's Travis Kottenbrock showed some pretty quick feet, too, to get to first base to take a throw from first baseman Gavin Saine to record the final out of the game with the bases loaded full of Wildcats.

Kottenbrock and Bath's Zach Sterling, two of the top pitchers in the area, produced the low-scoring game everyone expected.

But the path to that score was not your conventional pitchers duel.

Kottenbrock allowed 12 hits, but with the help of some big defensive plays, stranded 10 Bath baserunners. Both Bath runs came in the first inning.

LCC got its three runs in its first two at-bats. And in those two innings, Sterling walked six and threw four wild pitches. After that, he allowed just two hits, struck out eight and walked only one more batter.

"It didn't start the way everybody expected. Both pitchers struggled a little bit. But as both settled down, it turned into the game I expected," LCC coach John Schnieders said after the Thunderbirds raised their record to 13-8.

LCC will play No. 1-seeded Coldwater at 5 p.m. Friday on the Cavaliers' diamond in a sectional championship game.

The Thunderbirds took a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

Joel Stolly doubled, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on another to make it 1-0. When catcher Scott Goedde's throw to the plate to try to get Stolly flew past Sterling, Kottenbrock - who had walked - went all the way to third base.

Josh Runda's sacrifice fly brought Kottenbrock home for a 2-0 lead. But Bath got two runs in the bottom of the first on an infield single by Cory Stephens, a triple by Sterling and a single by Kevin Korkate.

LCC regained the lead in the top of the second when it loaded the bases on Kevin Gronas' single and two walks. Gronas scored on Sterling's fourth wild pitch in the first 13 batters.

After that, LCC's defense - not always a strong point this season - made several big plays.

"We knew what we were going to get pitching-wise and defense came through for us (Saturday). And that's why we're moving on," Schnieders said. "We started very shaky (defensively) early in the season. For the last week and a half or so we've been making all the routine plays. (Saturday), we made the routine plays and a couple of outstanding plays."

One of those came in the third inning when Saine knocked down an infield single by Korkate, but Sterling was thrown out at the plate as he tried to score from second base.

Another was in the sixth inning when Stephens hit a double down the right-field line and was easily thrown out at third when second baseman Stolly took right fielder J.T. Wiechert's throw and fired a perfect relay to third baseman Matt Clay.

Maybe the biggest, though, came on the final out of the game.

Sterling and Matt McKinney, who both were 3-for-4 in the game, singled with one out in the seventh. After McKinney stole second with two out, LCC walked Brandon Mohr intentionally to load the bases.

The next batter, designated hitter Ben Wierman, pulled a grounder wide of first base. Saine fielded it and tossed to Kottenbrock, who got to the bag just before the runner.

"I was planning on the ball coming to me all the time so I would be ready," Saine said. "When it did, I treated it like any other play. When I saw Travis run to the bag I knew he had him because he had a step on him."

Kottenbrock called it a "bang-bang" play, but also said it was routine.

"Any ball hit to the right side, it's always the pitcher's role to get to first base. You follow the ball. Gavin's a senior, I'm a senior. It's a routine play."

Bath coach Tony Roob said the Wildcats had struggled with converting scoring opportunities in other games this season.

"It's just frustrating," he said. "You can't put people on and let them (LCC) have time to find a timely hit."

St. Henry 9
Marion Local 2

The Redskins (18-5) jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two innings and rolled on to a sectional championship match-up with No. 2-seeded Parkway at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Coldwater.

Brad Kremer, Nick Bruns and Jordan Jacobs all drove in two runs for St. Henry.  Bruns got the win. He struck out eight and walked three in six innings.