Sun Nov 08 2009
By CHUCK MARTINEZ-BRANDON
The runs kept on coming Wednesday at the Defiance County ACME sectional.
After a pair of high-scoring games on Tuesday, there were a pair of run-rule efforts on Wednesday at Defiance High School's Booster Field as Hicksville and Defiance each earned victories.
In the opener, a 12-run second inning helped propel the Hicksville Eagles to a 15-5, five-inning win over Ayersville in loser's bracket action. Meanwhile, in the nightcap, the Bulldogs moved one win away from the district tourney with a 17-5 win over Tinora (9-6).
In the second game, the Bulldogs (21-5) came out swinging and pushed five runs across the board in the top-half of the first inning.
Aaron Helland and Alex Nofziger opened the game with back-to-back singles and crossed the plate two batters later on a single by Corbin Stykemain. Dace Kime, Stykemain and Zach Dempsey touched home to give the Bulldogs the early lead.
"They put the ball in play," recalled Tinora head coach Matt Carr. "And we had a double-play ball that would have gotten us out of the inning down just two runs, but that happens. Defiance is a good team and they don't strike out a lot and that makes a big difference in a game like this."
But in the bottom half of the inning, the Rams answered with one swing of the bat.
With two on and one out, Tinora junior-to-be Ethan McKenney took an Eric Stapleton offering and bounced it off the scoreboard in right-center field to bring the Rams within two, 5-3.
The Rams added another run in the third on a RBI single by Logan DeTray. But McKenney's blast seemed to awaken the bulldog in Stapleton.
In the second inning, Stapleton fanned three of the four batters he faced. And despite getting touched up for that run in the third, Defiance's lanky righty still struck out another three Rams.
In the fourth, Stapleton and the Bulldogs sent the Rams down in order. In the fifth, Stapleton fanned two more before being the trigger-man on a 1-6-3 double play that sealed the game in the bottom of the sixth.
In all, Stapleton, who flirted with a 90 mph fastball all night, had nine strikeouts.
"It was hard on him after warming up (and then us) scoring five runs in the first," said Defiance skipper Mark Elliott about Stapleton's day. "I know he was in the bullpen trying to stay loose, but I knew he was cold in the bottom half of the inning, but he came back and found it out there after that home run. Overall he threw a heck-of-a game."
And while Stapleton was cruising, the Bulldogs' bats kept making contact.
The Bulldogs added two more tallies in the second and another in the third for an 8-3 advantage and blew the game open with a five-run fifth.
With two on and no outs, Helland stroked a two-run triple off the wall in left-center field that made it a 10-3 Bulldog advantage.
Helland also came home when he teamed up with Nofziger on a successful double steal. A couple of Tinora errors followed and helped the Bulldogs add one more run before the inning was over.
"We were just hitting the ball solid and making them make the plays," explained Elliott. "And we just put the pressure on them and that was a good win for us against a good team like Tinora."
In the sixth inning, Stykemain put the Rams away.
Helland again got things rolling with a single up the middle. A pair of walks followed and loaded the bases for Stykemain.
Ahead in the count 2-1, Stykemain found his pitch and planted it in the darkness over the left-center field wall for the grand slam and setting the stage for a showdown against the Apaches.
"The key is going to be the same as always," said Elliott about today's match-up with Fairview. "It's going to be solid pitching, hitting it well and solid defense behind our pitcher."
In the opener, the Pilots drew first blood with a run in the top of the first inning. However, Hicksville took advantage of eight Ayersville errors in the second to take a comfortable 12-1 lead.
The Eagles added another run in the third and two more in the fifth thanks to a Seth Klepper homer to capture the win and stay alive in the double-elimination tournament.
The Eagles will meet the Rams today at 5:30 p.m. at DHS' Booster Field in an elimination game.
Meanwhile, Defiance and Fairview meet for a spot in the district tournament at 8 p.m.
Linescores
Defiance 521 054 - 17 10 0
Tinora 301 000 - 4 5 5
Records: Defiance 21-5, Tinora 9-6.
Winning pitcher: Eric Stapleton (6 innings, 4 runs, 5 hits, 9 strikeouts, 4 walks).
Losing pitcher: Tyler McKenney (3 innings, 8 runs, 6 hits, 1 strikeout, 5 walks). Other: Britt Gerken.
Leading hitters: (Defiance, 10 hits) - Aaron Helland 2 singles, triple, 2 RBI, 2 runs; Alex Nofziger 2 singles, 3 runs, 2 stolen bases; Dace Kime single, 3 runs; Corbin Stykemain single, grand slam, 6 RBI, 3 runs. (Tinora, 5 hits) - Garrett Schafer 2 singles, 2 runs; Ethan McKenney home run, 3 RBI, run; Logan DeTray 2 singles.
Ayersville 102 02 - 5 6 10
Hicksville 0(12)1 02 - 15 17 3
Winning pitcher: Dusty Yoder.
Losing pitcher: Tyler Waldron. Other: Tyler Clady.
Leading hitters: (Ayersville, 6 hits) - J.J. Erickson 2 singles, 2 runs; Dillon Flint single, 2 runs; Tyler Waldron single, RBI, run. (Hicksville, 17 hits) - Charles Emenheiser double, RBI, run; Seth Klepper single, 3 runs, home run, RBI; Conner Yoder 2 singles, 2 runs, RBI; Nick Post 2 singles, 2 runs, RBI; Matt Ashcroft 2 singles, run, RBI; Cody Bibbenstein double, 2 singles, run, RBI.
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