Lima Central Catholic’s Carson Parker steals second base before the tag attempt of Elida’s Zach Suever during Saturday’s Ed Sandy Classic in Elida.
ELIDA – It’s all about getting the repetitions.
The Lima Central Catholic baseball team got a late start to its season because of a state-tournament run in basketball.
At Saturday’s Ed Sandy Classic at Ed Sandy Field, Lima Central Catholic began to hit its stride against Elida.
LCC pounded 10 base hits and received solid pitching performances, en route to a 7-0 victory over Elida in the second of two games for both teams.
Lima Central Catholic, Elida and Delphos St. John’s participated in this year’s Ed Sandy Classic. Each team played two games.
Billy Bourk, who was a standout on the LCC basketball team, pitched four solid innings. The senior right-hander did not give up a hit. He struck out eight, walked one and hit a batter, while tossing 51 pitches.
Bourk recently committed to Adrian College, where he will play both baseball and football next school year.
In the fifth, Brady Malcom pitched the final three innings for LCC. Malcom gave up the only Elida hit, a single by Marc Troyer in the seventh inning.
In LCC’s first game of the day, a 14-1 win over Delphos St. John’s, the Thunderbirds were led by senior Carson Parker, who pitched three innings, before being lifted. Parker also was a standout on the basketball team.
Parker allowed no runs and just two hits. He struck out six, walked one and threw 54 pitches.
Parker is headed to Ohio Dominican University next school year to play football.
“Parker and Bourk are the top two pitchers for us. … Everybody knows it,” LCC coach John Schnieders said. “Coming off the state basketball run, they’re getting off to a little bit slower start. They both threw really well after being with us for just a week. But overall, our pitching was fantastic, and our defense was really good.”
Against LCC, Elida started Noah Jostpille on the pitching mound. The sophomore right-hander worked four innings. Jostpille scattered five hits, gave up two runs, while striking out five and walking three. Jostpille threw 75 pitches.
Griffin Burton worked 1 2/3 innings for the Bulldogs, before giving way to Chace Rhine in the sixth, who finished the game for Elida.
At the plate against Elida, LCC’s Matthew Quatman went 3 for 4 with an RBI. Michael Quatman and J.J. Schnieders each collected two hits for the T-Birds.
“You saw a little bit of what we are,” Schnieders said. “We’re going to ride those two guys (Bourk and Parker). Offensively, we are still trying to figure it out. Our timing is off. These were just our third and fourth games. But as the day went on, we started to put the bat on the ball a little bit more and started to feel a little better about hitting. So, hopefully with some good weather – and everyone is in the same boat – we can stream some games together and get these kids some timing and rhythm, offensively. Pitching and defense was what it was all about today. And that’s kind of how we’re going to be this year.”
After Saturday’s action, LCC is 3-1.
Elida 3, Delphos St. John’s 2
In extra innings, Elida’s Marc Troyer smacked a single in the bottom of the eighth that drove in the winning run for the Bulldogs.
“I was just waiting for a strike – anything I could swing on and get it out (of the infield). I was trying to be aggressive,” Troyer said.
On the mound, Elida got four solid innings from Ryan McGue. The junior right-hander did not allow a run. McGue gave up one hit, while striking out four and walking three.
At the plate, Gabe Adcock went 3 for 4 with a double. Teammate Zach Suever went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI.
Elida coach Tyler Leatherman was especially pleased with his team’s pitching and defense.
“It’s awesome that we have guys who can go out and do everything right on the mound. We also have to give credit to our defense. We made some diving plays. We made some stops. There is a lot that you can do right. When you do a lot of things right, you are going to be in every single game,” Leatherman said.
St. John’s coach Jerry Jackson said, “We hit the ball pretty hard at times, but we were hitting it right at them. That was the deciding factor throughout this game because we missed some opportunities.”
After Saturday’s action, Elida is 4-3 and St. John’s is 1-3.
LCC 14, Delphos St. John’s 1
LCC recorded just two base hits against St. John’s on Saturday. However, the Blue Jays gave the T-Birds many free bases by way of walks.
Heading into the fifth inning, it was a scoreless game.
In the fifth inning, LCC put 14 runs on the board on just two hits. St. John’s pitching walked nine batters in that inning.
With LCC being ahead by at least 10 runs after five complete innings, the game was shortened by way of the run rule. A normal high school baseball game is seven innings.
Carson Parker pitched the first three innings and did not allow a run. Brady Parker took over pitching duties in the fourth for the T-Birds and closed the game out.
LCC 14, Delphos St. John’s 1
LCC 0 0 0 0 (14) – 14-2-1
St. John’s 0 0 0 0 1 1-3-2
WP – Brady Parker (LCC)
LP – Josh Mueller (DSJ)
2B – (DSJ) Alex Martz 1
Elida 3, Delphos St. John’s 2
St. John’s 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 – 2-4-1
Elida 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 – 3-8-2
WP- Zach Suever (E)
LP – Aaron Moenter (DSJ)
2B – (E) Gabe Adcock 1, Zach Suever 1
LCC 7, Elida 0
Elida 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0-1-2
LCC 2 0 0 0 0 5 X – 7-10-2
WP – Billy Bourk (LCC)
LP – Noah Jostpille (E)
