L-B shuts out P-G, gains conference championship

BASEBALL L-BENTON 11P-GILBOA 0FINDLAY – Liberty-Benton put together back-to-back four-run innings and capped off an unbeaten run through the Blanchard Valley Conference on Wednesday with an 11-0 win over Pandora-Gilboa.Jackson Knepper started and Riley Ogden finished up on the mound for L-B. The two combined for a three-hit shutout.The Elchert brothers led L-B at the plate. Seth Elchert lined two hits and scored twice. Zach Elchert had a single, triple and home run. Both drove in two runs for L-B, 14-3 overall.Reid Irwin and Kooper Leatherman added two hits each.P-Gilboa 000 00—0 3 3L-Benton 144 2x—11 12 0WP—Knepper. LP—Mullins. TOP HITTERS: (L-B) Irwin 2-1B; S. Elchert 2-1B, 2 RBI; Leatherman 2-1B, 2 RBI; Z. Elchert 1B, 3B, HR, 2 RBI; Schworm 2B; Mead 1B, RBI. VAN BUREN 1ELMWOOD 0VAN BUREN – Two of the top offensive teams in the Blanchard Valley Conference clashed when Elmwood traveled to Van Buren on Wednesday.Defense and pitching stole the show, though, with Van Buren posting a 1-0 win over the Royals in a battle for second place in the league standings.Elmwood had averaged 8.9 runs a game in going 14-3 overall and 8-1 in BVC games. The Royals managed just four hits – all singles – off Van Buren ace Grady Mason, though. The senior right-hander went all seven innings, striking out six and walking two.Elmwood's Landon Snow also pitched well, allowing six hits and striking out five against a Van Buren club that was averaging 10.1 runs a game. Snow walked six, though, and Elmwood committed two errors.Cohen Stevens had one of Van Buren's six hits and drew one of those six walks. He was on base in the third inning when Brock Daniel delivered an RBI single to drive in the game's lone run.Liberty-Benton completed a 10-0 run through the BVC with an 11-0 win over Pandora-Gilboa on Wednesday. Van Buren, with a BVC game at Riverdale on Monday, is 17-2 and alone in second in the BVC standings at 8-1. Elmwood, 14-4 overall, wrapped up its BVC schedule at 8-2.Elmwood 000 000 0—0 4 2Van Buren 001 000 x—1 6 0WP—Mason. LP—Snow. TOP HITTERS: (Elm) Bradford 2-1B. (VB) Rampe 2-1B; Daniel 1B, RBI. MCCOMB 10RIVERDALE 9MCCOMB – McComb scored five runs in the sixth inning to tie the game, then pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the eighth to nip Riverdale 10-9 in a Blanchard Valley Conference baseball game.Luke Kerns, a freshman, earned the win in relief of McComb starter Braydon Shoop. Kern allowed one hit, but faced just nine batters over the final three innings.Jace Wartgow, with a single and two doubles, and Shoop, with a single and a triple, drove in two runs each. Kern and Haiden Ebright added RBI singles for the Panthers (8-10, 5-4 BVC).Lex Weber had two singles, a double and drove in four runs for Riverdale (8-9, 4-4 BVC). Evan Reiter and Kydin Reed added RBI singles.Riverdale 050 130 00—9 7 4McComb 030 105 01—10 9 5WP—Kern. LP—Weber. TOP HITTERS: (Riv) Reiter 1B, 2 RBI; Weber 2-1B, 2B, 4 RBI; Reed 1B, RBI. (McC) Shoop 1B, 3B, 2 RBI; Ebright 1B, RBI; Wartgow 1B, 2-2B, 2 RBI; Kern 1B, 2 RBI. ARCADIA 12VANLUE 2ARCADIA – Arcadia's Nolan Martinez allowed just three hits, and delivered three hits of his own on offense in the Redskins 12-2 BVC win over Vanlue.Martinez struck out five in upping his pitching record to 3-1. His three base hits helped Arcadia (6-10, 4-6 BVC) take 2-1, 6-1- and 9-1 leads over the first three innings.Colin Nusser (2-1B, 3 RBI), Owen Rader (1B, 3B, RBI) and Andrew Williams (2-1B) had two hits each. Aiden Lynch and Lamarion Tucker added RBI singles.Vanlue 100 01—2 3 6Arcadia 243 03—12 12 0WP—Martinez (3-1). LP—Hamilton. TP HITERS: (Arc) Martinez 3-1B, RBI; Nusser 2-1B, 3 RBI; Lynch 1B, 2 RBI; Rader 1B, 3B, RBI; Williams 2-1B; Tucker 1B, RBI. LEIPSIC 21ARLINGTON 0ARLINGTON – Leipsic shortstop Aaron Hazelton went 5-for-6 with five singles, three RBI and four runs scored in the Vikings 21-0 BVC romp over Arlington.Mill Paniaqua knocked in four runs with a pair of base hits and John Dewar drove in three. Colin Niese (2 RBI) and Avery Paris also had two hits and Myles Camareno belted a solo home run in the Vikings (13-9, 7-3 BVC) offensive barrage.Nick Schroeder pitched a four-hit shutout and struck out 12 batters. Zander Collins had two of the Red Devils (2-13, 2-8 BVC) four hits.Leipsic 161 58—21 18 0Arlington 000 00—0 4 3WP—N. Schroeder. LP—Griggs. TOP HITTERS: (Leip) Hazelton 5-1B, 3 RBI; Offenabacher 2B, 2 RBI; Dewar 2-1B, 3 RBI; C. Niese 2-1B, 2 RBI; Camareno HR, RBI; Newell 1B, RBI; Paris 2-1B; Paniaqua 2-1B, 4 RBI. (Arl) Collins 2-1B. CAREY 9B. CENTRAL 5NEW WASHINGTON – Carey broke a close game open with a six-run rally in the top of the sixth inning and held on to beat Buckeye Central 9-5 in a Northern 10 Conference matchup.Garrett Hall and Louis Watkins both had three hits for Carey (11-6, 7-4 N10). Carter Bame and AJ Wynkoop added RBI singles and David Hall doubled in a run.Hall earned a complete game win, allowing five runs on six hits with nine strikeouts. Lance Cole singled, doubled and drove in two run for Buckeye Central (10-8, 3-6 N10).Carey 002 006 1—9 13 3B. Central 000 021 2—5 6 1WP—Hall. LP—Jarvis. TOP HITTERS: (Car) Hall 3-1B; Watkins 3-1B, 2 RBI; Bame 1B, RBI; Hall 2B, RBI. (BC) Cole 1B, 2B, 2 RBI. FT. JENNINGS 5ADA 0ADA – Doubles from Owen Calvelage and Adam Hoersten drove in three of Fort Jennings total runs in the Musketeers 5-0 win over Ada.Hoersten also pitched four shutout innings in earning the win as Fort Jennings improved to 12-5. Levi Green had a pair of base hits for Ada (4-15).Ft. Jennings 000 310 1—5 5 0Ada 000 000 0—0 5 2WP—Hoersten. LP—Wibley. TOP HITTERS: (FJ) Calvelage 2B, RBI; Hoersten 2B, 2 RBI. (Ada) Green 2-1B. O-GLANDORF 3ST. MARYS 0ST. MARYS – Ottawa-Glandorf's Austin Koch pitched a two-hit shutout in the Titans 3-0 Western Buckeye League win over St. Marys Memorial.Grant Leopold, Landon Pester and Mason Trombley all had a pair of hits for O-G (8-7, 3-4 WBL).