BATH TOWNSHIP – Bath captured the ACME District 5 East Sectional title and solidified its spot as the No. 1 seed after a 19-1 trouncing of Shawnee on Wednesday night.
Despite it being a double elimination bracket, it was announced prior to the game that no additional game would be played if Shawnee, coming out of the losers’ bracket, happened to win thus making this a game about seeding going into district play.
With the victory, Bath, as the No. 1 seed, will play at 1 p.m. Sunday at Lima Central Catholic High School in district competition against Crestview, the No. 2 seed from the District 5 West Sectional bracket. As the No. 2 seed in the east, Shawnee will play West top seed Van Wert at 3:30 p.m. Van Wert defeated Crestview 9-6 Wednesday night in Convoy after Crestview eliminated Delphos St. John’s 4-1 earlier in the day.
Bath head coach Andy Shafer said this was a great all-around game for his club as it heads into district action.
“We got some good pitching. We got some good hitting and we came out aggressive early,” the Bath skipper said. “It was a great team win to bring the sectional title home.”
Bath, which went unbeaten throughout the sectional, put on a dominating performance at the plate as the Wildcats feasted on Indians pitching by lashing out 16 hits. All nine starters, and even one reserve player, reached base. All nine starters scored a run and drove in a run.
Logan Shafer, Logan Williams, Logan Magrum all collected three hits in the blowout. Shafer scored four times and drove in three runs.
It was Magrum’s two-run double that drove in the first runs that highlighted a five-run first inning that got the Wildcat scoring merry-go-round moving.
Seven more runs in the third gave Bath a 12-0 advantage and by the fifth, the Wildcats were celebrating the run ruled victory.
“Overall we have been playing pretty well (in the tournament) and offensively we have gotten better every game,” Shafer said. “
The Bath duo of Ryan Gossard and Jeremiah Bolon shut down the Shawnee batters as they limited the Indians to six hits over five innings of work. Gossard, who started the game and went three innings, gave up just three hits while striking out four and walking one. Bolon cleaned up the final two frames and allowed just three hits and yielded one run.
Shawnee head coach Brody Williams blamed the long day and hot sun on his team’s poor performance. Earlier in the day Shawnee had defeated Wapakoneta 3-1 to advance in the championship bracket and get to the title game.
“We came out strong in the first game against Wapak when we faced elimination and that was the game that really counted for us. We were able to keep ourselves from getting eliminated from the tournament and keep ourselves alive.”
In the losing effort, Jake Cowan and Tyler Moore each had two hits, respectively. Cowan accounted for Shawnee’s lone run in the fourth.
Even though Bath put up an impressive victory, Shafer said there is still room for improvement and they will need to keep playing at a high level if they expect to advance in the tournament.
“We have got to be a little more aggressive on the base paths and be a little better on defense,” Shafer said. “We’ve had a couple of misplays the last few games and it hasn’t come back and hurt us yet. We have got to stay focused.”
For Shawnee, Williams said his team will get a little rest and try to regroup before Sunday.
“I have confidence in my guys,” Williams said. “The guys I’m bringing I have confidence that they are going to get on base and we can produce runs and hold them on defense. We have a chance to compete with team in this tournament.”
District 4
ST. HENRY — The hosts scored five times in the first inning on their way to a 7-3 victory against Parkway for the sectional title. Both advance to district play. Nathan Lefeld had two hits, including a double, and two RBI, Curtis Uhlenhake had a hit and two RBI and Sam Lefeld had two hits and an RBI for St. Henry. Carson Ford had two hits, including a double, and two RBI and Mason Baxter had a hit and an RBI for Parkway. District play at Coldwater begins Sunday with St. Henry playing Fort Loramie at 1 p.m. and Parkway meeting Minster at 3 p.m.
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