By BRUCE HEFFLINGER

hefflinger@crescent-news.com

OTTAWA -- Hopes for a fifth straight district title are still alive for the Napoleon River Bandits.

The local American Legion baseball team pounded out 15 hits and got outstanding relief pitching from Eric Sims in a 13-3 eight-inning win over Ottawa on Tuesday evening.

"The difference between today and last night (Monday's loss to Findlay) was that we did a much better job with guys on base and advancing them," said Napoleon coach Shane Coleman.

The Bandits scored early and often in moving on to Thursday's 7 p.m. losers' bracket game at Ottawa with Whitehouse (a 12-7 winner over Pemberville on Tuesday), pushing three runs across in the first inning, two in the third and another in the fourth to take a commanding 6-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Napoleon starting pitcher Zach Botjer kept Ottawa scoreless through five innings of work but it was far from easy. Ottawa left eight runners on base in that span, including five in scoring position, but time and again the Patrick Henry graduate got out of jams.

"Give Zach credit, he didn't have his best stuff but he worked through it to get outs and survived," Coleman noted. "He really battled, especially for a guy who did not have his best stuff."

Ottawa finally got to the right-hander of the Bandits in the sixth inning when Austin Blaski (P-G) led off with a double, Drew Mesker (Fort Jennings) reached on an error and Joe Marshall walked to load the bases.

After a strikeout, Jarod Riley (Paulding) was hit by a 1-2 pitch to bring in Blaski and Tyler Leatherman (O-G) walked to trim the deficit to 6-2. It also meant the end of the night on the mound for Botjer.

Enter Sims, who pitched in relief a night earlier allowing three runs on two hits and two walks in 22/3 innings in an 8-3 loss to Findlay. It was a far different performance for Sims against Ottawa.

Nathan Vermillion greeted the Fairview senior with a sacrifice fly to score Marshall, but Sims ended the Ottawa rally by fanning clean-up hitter Logan Grant.

Sims went on to strike out the side in the eighth inning and, after a walk and single to start the ninth, sent the last three batters of the game down on strikes.

"I felt good tonight," said Sims, who was a starting pitcher most of the summer in posting a 7-1 record for the Bandits. "I like it (relief) a lot. You get a chance to throw every day instead of waiting your turn.

"I just started them off with the fastball and then tried to get them to swing at junk."

It was just what Coleman was looking for from the 6-1, 198-pound right-hander, who had seven strikeouts, most with a nasty 12-6 curveball.

"He came in more focused tonight and went out on a mission," Coleman explained. "Relief is a new thing for him but obviously it worked out."

After Ottawa had pulled within 6-3 in the top of the sixth, the River Bandits countered with four in the bottom of the frame to help make things more comfortable for Coleman's crew. With one out, Adam Wagner (Defiance) walked and Kyle Reese (Patrick Henry) followed with a single.

Michael Swary (Defiance), who drove in the initial run of the game with a single in the first, did it again and when the ball got past the Ottawa center fielder Reese came around to score. Following a walk to Sims, Ottawa reliever Michael Rahrig recorded a strikeout, but couldn't get out of the jam when Justin Riley (Defiance) scored Swary with a single. An Ottawa error on the play also plated Sims.

"That was big," Coleman said of his team responding immediately to Ottawa's three-run frame. "It could have been easy to start panicking. It was big for our guys to get those runs back."

Napoleon then put the game away in the eighth with three more runs. A single by Sims and a bunt hit by Botjer started the inning and Riley and Steve Riedel (Defiance) closed things out with run-scoring singles.

Swary led the 15-hit Napoleon attack with a pair of singles and a double while Riley finished with three singles.

While Napoleon and Whitehouse are playing in the losers' bracket at Ottawa on Thursday, Toledo and Findlay will be meeting in the winners' bracket finals at Findlay. The Napoleon-Whitehouse winner and Toledo-Findlay loser will then collide on Friday at 7 p.m. in Ottawa with the survivor facing the Toledo-Findlay winner on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the double elimination tournament.

Linescore

Ottawa 000 003 00 - 3 8 4

Napoleon 302 104 03 - 13 15 1

Records: Napoleon 38-12, Ottawa 21-12.

Winning pitcher: Zach Botjer (51/3 innings, 3 runs, 7 hits, 6 strikeouts, 4 walks, 1 HBP). Other: Eric Sims (22/3 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 7 strikeouts, 1 walk).

Losing pitcher: Trent Haughn (3 innings, 5 runs, 6 hits, 3 strikeouts, 2 walks). Others: Michael Rahrig, Alex Schomaeker, Nathan Bogart, Nikolas Louiselle.

Leading hitters: (Ottawa, 8 hits) - Tyler Leatherman 2 singles; Austin Blaski single, double; Joe Marshall double. (Napoleon, 15 hits) - Michael Swary 2 singles, double; Justin Riley 3 singles; Steve Riedel 2 singles.