Flag City routs Scouts, 7-1

FINDLAY – Flag City allowed one run in the first inning on Tuesday, but relied on standout pitching and its league-leading defense the rest of the way in beating Xenia 7-1 in a Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League game at the Marathon Diamonds.Dominic Elia started and went the first six innings for Flag City. The 6-foot-2 left-hander, who pitches for Tiffin University, gave up three hits and walked a batter in the first inning. But he picked a man of first, allowed just one run and pitched shutout ball until Ben Best took over to start the seventh.Best, a Findlay High grad, threw two scoreless innings and struck out four – the last two batters in the seventh and the first two in the eighth. Max Dunaway pitched the ninth.Combined, the three pitchers struck out 14 Xenia batters. They were also backed by a GLSCL-leading defense – .969 fielding percentage -- that did not commit an error Tuesday and has committed just two miscues in the last six games.Flag City overcame that early 1-0 deficit in the bottom of the first inning without benefit of a base hit. After loading the bases on three walks, a sacrifice fly by Atticus Huffstetler and a ground out by Miles Mitchell produced two runs and a 2-1 Sluggers lead.Flag City broke it open in the sixth, again loading the bases on walks to Gino Williams and Braden Sprague and a base hit by Cameron Spezia. Brett Reed singled in one run, Fostoria graduate Trenten Smith singled home two more and Jovanny Skrelja lined a clutch two-out, two-run single to cap the rally.Smith had two hits, drove in two runs and scored two for the Sluggers, who have won seven of their last eight games to improve to 10-6 heading into today's 6:05 p.m. contest with Xenia at the Marathon Diamonds. Flag City will travel to Xenia on Thursday, then return for 6:05 matchups with the Michigan Monarchs Thursday and Friday.Mayo Fernandez had two base hits and Ethan Moore had an RBI single for Xenia, which dropped its fourth straight game to fall to 7-9 overall.Xenia 100 000 000—1 5 0Flag City 200 005 00x—7 8 0WP—Elia (2-0). LP—Phillips (0-1). TOP HITTERS: (Xen) Fernandez 2-1B; Moore 1B, RBI. (FC) Smith 2-1B, 2 RBI; Huffstetler 1B, RBI; Reed 1B, RBI; Skrelja 1B, 2 RBI. FAGA golf ARLINGTON – Jake Schroeder followed a qualifying-round score of 76 with a 2-up victory over Jackson Knepper on Tuesday to win the boys 16-18 age group title off the Findlay Area Golf Association match play tournament at Sycamore Spring Golf Club in Arlington.Jackson, a junior-to-be at Van Buren who last season helped the Black Knights win the Blanchard Valley Conference championship and place sixth in the Division III boys state tournament, scored a 4-u[ win over Ashton Holdgreve in the semifinals. Knepper, a junior on Liberty-Benton's Division II state-qualifying team last fall, won his semifinal 2-up over Kellen Sherer.Sherer topped Holdgreve 4-and-3 for third place in the boys 16-18 competition.Andrew Hibbard, seeded No.1 in the boys 14-15 division after a qualifying round score of 81, followed that with a 1-up victory over Thayne Shepherd in the match play finals.Anna Lammers, seeded second, upended top-seeded EmmaLee VonLehmden 2-up in the girls 14-18 final.Clay Bergman followed a qualifying round score of 84 with a 3-and-2 victory over Carter McKibben in the boys 12-13 tourney.Stroke play decided the youngest divisions, with Caroline Bennett (58) winning the girls 10-13 title and Ben Grace (49) finishing on top of the boys 10-11 group.FAGA GOLFMATCH PLAYBOYS 16-18SEMIFINALS – Jake Schroeder (76) 4-up over Ashton Holdgreve (83); Jackson Knepper (82) 2-up over Kellen Sherer (81).CHAMPIONSHIP – Schroeder 2-up over Knepper. THIRD PLACE – Sherer 4-&-3 over Holdgreve.BOYS 14-15SEMIFINALS – Andrew Hibbard (81) 4-&-3 over Bentley Anderson (91); Thayne Shepherd (88) 1-up over Will Gutman (87).CHAMPIONSHIP – Hibbard 1-up over Shepherd; THIRD PLACE – Gutman 5-&-4 over Anderson.GIRLS 14-18SEMIFINALS — EmmaLee VonLehmden (87) 1-up extra holes over Kristin Combs (94); Anna Lammers (87) 1-up over Sarah Combs (90).CHAMPIONSHIP – Lammers 2-up over VonLehmden. THIRD PLACE – S. Combs 2-&-1 over K. Combs.BOYS 12-13SEMIFINALS – Clay Bergman (84) 2-up over Colten Kachur (88); Carter McKibben (85) 2-up over Jimmy Barger (86).CHAMPIONSHIP – Bergman 3-&-2 over McKibben THIRD PLACE – Kachur 2-up over Barger.GIRLS 10-131, Caroline Bennett, 58; 2, Hannah Dotson, 69.BOYS 12-131, Ben Grace 49; 2, Brody Bergman 53; 3, Beckett Parker 54; 4, Hayes Kessler 60.