Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
This roundup includes all games played through April 5.
GIBSONBURG (3-0) opened the season with big wins over Cardinal Stritch (17-3), Vanlue (20-2), and Arcadia (10-4).
Chuy Rodriguez picked up the win while striking out 10 on the mound in the opener against Stritch. Tristan Pacak, Reece Walby, and Luke Foster added two hits apiece, while Rodriguez had a triple and two RBIs.
Pacak took his turn picking up a win on the mound against Vanlue. Walby led the team with three hits, while Hoover added two, and Pacak produced a triple.
Rodriguez added his second victory and 10-strikeout performance against Arcadia, while he also registered a pair of hits and five RBIs offensively.
CLAY (3-2) opened its season in Tennessee, picking up wins over Wilson Central (13-5) and Providence Christian Academy (5-4), while falling to Collierville (9-0) and Riverdale (10-1). The Eagles knocked off Maumee (2-1) after returning to the area.
Clay produced the season-opening win over Wilson Central despite falling into a 4-0 hole after one inning. Landon Echelberry (2-for-2, 2 R, 3 RBIs, 2 BB) and Ty Franke (2-for-4, R, 2 RBI) led the offense, while Max Morrison (3 IP, 3 K, 2 BB, 1 ER) picked up the win in relief. Brayden Toneff struck out two in his one inning of relief.
The Eagles fell to Collierville, which has advanced to the state semifinals in back-to-back seasons in Tennessee, in the second game. Echelberry struck out 10 with just two walks over four innings. Toneff and Aiden Berryman picked up Clay’s lone two hits.
Clay picked up the win over PCA, getting four strong innings from Darin Fussell, who struck out three and allowed two runs. Jayce Derr tossed 2.1 innings of scoreless relief with four strikeouts, and George Edwards produced a two-out save. Bryce Besgrove (2-for-3, 2 R, RBI, 2B, BB, SB), Echelberry (2-for-4, R), and Toneff (1-for-3, RBI, SB) led the offense.
The Eagles led Riverdale 1-0 through four innings before a tough finish. Edwards started on the mound and gave up just two hits for Clay, which was led offensively by Fussell (2-for-3, 2B, R) and Toneff (2-for-3, RBI, 2 SB).
Fussell picked up his second win of the season in the return home against the Panthers, striking out four over five innings. Besgrove and Echelberry combined for four strikeouts over the final two frames. Brannan Vargas (2-for-3, HR), Echelberry (1-for-3, RBI), Toneff (1-for-2, BB), and Ray Campos (1-for-2, SB) led the offense.
LAKE (2-1) picked up wins over Old Fort (5-0) and Start (8-1) while falling to Delta (9-7).
In the season opener against Old Fort, Jack Sobczak struck out eight and walked just one over six no-hit innings while producing a 2-for-4 performance offensively with two RBIs, a double, and one run. Charles Wallace pitched a scoreless seventh, while Gavin Kohlhofer (3-for-4, R) and Thomas Oehlers (2-for-2, 2 R, BB, 2B, HBP) also had multi-hit outings.
A high-scoring affair over the first three innings ultimately resulted in a loss to Delta, which scored all nine of its runs during that stretch. Lake rallied for two runs in the sixth on an RBI groundout from Grady Snoderly and an RBI double from Kohlhofer, who finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs, two doubles, one walk, and one run.
Lake used a five-run first inning while producing all its offensive output over the first three frames in the win over Start. The Flyers had 10 hits as a team, although Kohlhofer (2-for-3, 2 R, 2 RBIs, BB, 2B) and Zach Blandin (2-or-2, R, RBI, BB) had the lone multi-hit games. Sobczak picked up his second win on the mound, striking out six while allowing two hits, one run, and two walks over five innings. Wallace and Jaxson Rymers teamed up close out the game in relief.
WOODMORE (2-3) opened the season with wins over Evergreen (14-6) and Elmwood (5-3), while falling to Margaretta (6-5), Eastwood (6-3), and Monroeville (1-0 in 8 innings).
Woodmore scored all 14 of its runs in the season opener against Evergreen over the final five innings. Collin Perkins (2-for-4, 4 RBIs, R, 2B) had a big day, while Calvin Lipstraw (2-for-3, 4 SB, 2 R, BB), Cole Potridge (2-for-3, 2 R, BB, 2B), Ryne Donley (2-for-4, 2 R, SB), Blane Overmeyer (2-for-4, 3 R), and Keil Almroth (2-for-4, 2 RBIs, R, SB) also had multi-hit outings. Robert Seeger tossed six innings to pick up the win on the mound, allowing five hits and one walk while striking out two.
A five-run second inning from Margaretta sank Woodmore in the second game. Lipstraw (2-for-4, R, RBI, 2B) had the lone multi-hit effort, while Michael Seeger drew a pair of walks with one run, a stolen base, and an RBI. Overmeyer pitched two scoreless innings in relief while allowing just one walk.
Almroth tossed a gem to pick up the win over Elmwood, allowing three unearned runs, four hits, and four walks while striking out 11 over five innings. Seven different players recorded one hit apiece for the Wildcats offensively, while Lipstraw and Potridge had two RBIs each.
Potridge (2-for-2, 2B, HBP, RBI) and Almroth (2-for-3, 2 RBI) led the Wildcats offensively against Eastwood, while Overmeyer had a solid outing in relief, allowing just eight hits and three runs (two earned) with three strikeouts over the final 6.1 innings.
Despite multi-hit performances from Gavin Donley (2-for-4, 2 SB), Lipstraw (2-for-4), and Ryne Donley (2-for-4), Woodmore fell to Monroeville in extra innings. Almroth tossed his second gem of the season, striking out 10 and allowing just four walks and one run (zero earned) in a complete game performance.
EASTWOOD (1-2) opened the season with losses to Wayne Trace (14-0) and Fairview (15-5) before responding with a win over Woodmore (6-3).
The Eagles tallied one hit apiece from Cam Schumaker, Jack Sensenig, Andy Lautzenheiser, and Erich Hepler against Wayne Trace.
Eastwood added five runs in the loss against Fairview, which included multi-hit games from Drew Luidhardt (2-for-3, 2 R, BB), Brady Ramlow (2-for-4, R), Sensenig (2-for-4, R, RBI, 2B, 3B), Lautzenheiser (2-for-3, BB), Hepler (2-for-4, R, RBI, 2B, SB), and Easton Speck (2-for-4).
Landon Weemes delivered a complete game victory for the Eagles against Woodmore. He allowed six hits and two walks while striking out three. Schumaker (2-for-4, R) had the team’s lone multi-hit game, while Ramlow finished 1-for-3 with two runs, one RBI, one double, and one walk.
CARDINAL STRITCH (1-2) opened the season with a 13-3 win in five innings over Northwood before falling to Gibsonburg (17-3) and North Baltimore (11-6).
David Crook picked up the win against Northwood, allowing one hit and one earned run with three strikeouts over 3.2 innings. Simon Ross struck out two over 1.1 scoreless frames in relief. John Weaver (2-for-3, 2 R, RBI) led the offense, which produced eight hits as a team. Other highlights included Landon Wurst (1-for-1, 2 R, RBI, 2B) and Michael Rosales (1-for-3, 2 R, RBI, 2B).
Angelo Nino had Stritch’s lone hit against Gibsonburg, finishing 1-for-1 with three stolen bases, one run, and one RBI. Brayden Bennett (2) and Weaver also combined for three steals.
Ross went 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI to lead an eight-hit attack against North Baltimore. Weaver scored a team-best two runs, while five players had one RBI.
OAK HARBOR (1-3) produced the season’s first victory against Margaretta (5-4), which was sandwiched between losses to Fremont Ross (6-5), Bellevue (6-2 in 8 innings), and Norwalk (13-5).
The season opener against Fremont Ross featured a strong offensive performance from Garrett Perkins, who finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs, one double, and one run. Fischer Conn and Nolan Bickelhaupt also stole two bases apiece. Bickelhaupt started the game on the mound, as well, allowing just two runs while striking out seven over three innings.
The Rockets rallied for the win over Margaretta with three runs over the final two innings, including a walk-off RBI single from Ethan Johnson, which plated Remington Balboa. Bickelhaupt, who finished 2-for-3 with two runs, produced an RBI double in the sixth before scoring the tying run moments later. Cooper Schultz, who tossed 4.1 scoreless innings in relief to pick up the winning decision, also finished 1-for-2 with two walks and a run out of the leadoff spot.
Alex Rife went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, while Schultz finished 1-for-2 with a run and three walks in the loss to Bellevue, which saw the visitors rally for five runs over the last two innings, including four in the eighth after Rife’s game-tying single in the bottom of the seventh. Perkins added a 1-for-3 outing with one walk.
Oak Harbor had five players register multi-hit performances against Norwalk, but the hosts pushed across 12 runs over the game’s first two innings to pick up the win. Rife (3-for-4, two RBIs), Schultz (2-for-2, R, 2 BB, 2B), Perkins (2-for-4, R, RBI, 2B), Conn (2-for-3, BB, 2B), and Hunter Branum (2-for-3, 2 R, RBI) had big days at the plate while the Rockets totaled 14 hits overall.
GENOA (0-1) dropped its season opener to Delta, 5-3, despite a big game from Evan Millner, who went 3-for-3 with two runs and three RBIs. In fact, his two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth tied the game at three. Delta rallied for the win with four walks and a hit batter in the top of the seventh that produced a two-run rally. Elijah Welling went 1-for-3 with a run offensively as the Comets tallied four hits as a team.
NORTHWOOD (0-2) opened its season with losses to Cardinal Stritch (13-3) and Rossford (11-7).
Ryan Kovacs registered Northwood’s lone hit against Stritch, finishing 1-for-2 with a run.
Bryceson Laurell (2-for-4, R, 2 RBIs), Mason Hurley (2-for-4, 2 R, RBI, 2 2B), and Gabe Hicks (2-for-3, R, 3B) had multi-hit efforts against Rossford, while five others had one hit apiece.
WAITE (0-1) dropped its season opener to Lima Senior, 22-2. Stats weren’t available.
