BLUFFTON – Tiffin Columbian coach Curt Mellott said his team wanted to put some pressure on Wapakoneta early in the Division II baseball district championship game on Sunday at Bluffton University’s Memorial Field.
The Tornadoes probably exceeded their wildest expectations in that department when they scored four runs in the second inning and five more in the third inning on their way to a 12-0 win in five innings.
Seven of the nine batters in Columbian’s starting lineup got hits, seven of its players scored and eight reached base. And pitcher Carson Mellott allowed only three hits, struck out six and did not walk a batter.
“We felt like we were just hitting our stride (offensively). It was great to get that run support for Carson. He’s been in a lot of tight ball games. To open up a lead like that felt awesome,” Curt Mellott said.
Columbian repeated as district champion and raised its record to 22-4. Wapakoneta finished its season 18-5-1.
“This is what our kids wanted to get back to. This was a huge goal for them. We’d have been a little disappointed if we didn’t get here. That was our goal to get to that next step,” Mellott said.
Preston Keckler, the No. 9 hitter in Columbian’s lineup, was 3 for 3 and drove in three runs. Leadoff hitter Gunther Kissell also had three RBIs. Zach Rogers had two of Wapakoneta’s three hits.
Wapakoneta coach Jason Brandt said, “It’s never easy to get to a district final game. These guys have a lot to be proud of. We only won eight games last year. We got back to 18 wins this year. We battled adversity at times. We did little things all year long that made great tings happen.
“In our five losses our defense hurt us and that was no different today. But we’re not going to hang on that. We’re going to hang on how we did all year long, how much this team grew from last year to this year. We’re going to miss the three seniors we have but know that we have a really good group coming back, a group that hopefully is going to be hungry for more next year.”
Baseball
Division II District Final
T. Columbian 12, Wapakoneta 0
Columbian `045`21-`2`3`1
Eastwood `000`00 -`3`5`1
WP- Carson Mellott; LP- Grant Jolly
2B- TC: Gunther Kissel, Jaden Myers
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