Apr. 1—DELPHOS — The baseball version of the Lima Central Catholic — Delphos St. John's rivalry belonged to the Blue Jays after they won 4-2 over the Thunderbirds on Saturday afternoon at Stadium Park in the season opener for both teams.
St. John's starting pitcher Josh Mueller allowed one hit in five innings on the mound and its offense erupted for four runs in the bottom of the third.
LCC had a big inning of its own when it scored twice in the top of the sixth inning and had the bases loaded with one out. But St. John's relief pitcher Tyler Lindeman escaped without further damage by getting a strikeout and a ground out to end the inning.
"It was a frustrating day at the plate. We had our one inning where we had an opportunity to string some things together and get back in it and we had a couple of empty at bats in the middle of that bases loaded rally in the sixth inning," LCC coach John Schnieders said.
"Their big inning was bigger than ours and that was really the only difference. Both teams played well defensively and I think the pitchers on both sides did a good job.
"We have to get better at the plate. We know we're a team that is going to have to be better than two runs to beat the teams on our schedule. I'm just excited to get the season kicked off and hopefully we can play a little bit better next time," he said.
St. John's coach Jerry Jackson liked what he saw from both of the Blue Jays' pitchers.
"Josh Mueller is a senior who is a guy we've been waiting to take that mound presence to where he feels comfortable out there, working on the basics. It's neat to see him on the mound for a home opener as a senior because he has put the work in. He's always in the weight room. I'm very happy for Josh to go out there and get the win in the home opener," Jackson said.
"Tyler Lindeman had a little bit of trouble in the sixth but those two pitchers who threw for us today are seniors. I'm proud of them coming out here today because this is their final home opener and they were able to pitch well enough for the victory," he said.
Kalida looks dominant in opener
KALIDA — Bubba Smith, Kalida's senior second baseman, went a perfect 3 for 3 on Friday night at Holy Name Ballpark and brought home the winning run in the Wildcats' season-opening 11-1 win over visiting Spencerville.
Leading 10-1 in the final frame, the all-Ohio infielder slapped a ball over the head of Keaton Jacobs, Spencerville's right fielder, to score Jaxon Hoffman and give the Wildcats their first win of the season.
"Bubba is just a gamer," Kalida's fifth-year head coach Chad Ehrnsberger said. "He's a guy that any team in the state would want. He's a one-man offense and can totally affect a game all on his own."
Smith opened the bottom of the first for the Wildcats (1-0) by singling off Spencerville starter Jude Stemen and proceeded to swipe both second and third base against the Bearcat left-hander. Griffin Klausing's groundout to Stemen scored Smith two batters later to send the Wildcats into the lead.
Stemen, a freshman starting in his first varsity game, tossed 72 pitches over four innings while allowing six runs, three hits and striking out five over four innings of work.
Spencerville cut Kalida's lead to 3-1 in the fourth inning after a lead-off walk to Gavin Schwartz, but were unable to keep the Wildcats off the basepaths in the same inning. Sophomore catcher Adam Bockrath opened the inning with a double and crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly by teammate Jack Stechschulte.
Stechschulte showed flashes of brilliance on the mound for Kalida, tossing four innings of one-run ball and striking out six while walking just ...
