Sluggers stay hot, beat Hamilton 7-6

FLAG CITY &emsp;&emsp;7 HAMILTON 6 HAMILTON — Caleb Smith's two-out eighth-inning double plated what proved to be the winning run and Cooper Ashby nailed down the save with a clutch inning of relief when the Flag City Sluggers edged the Hamilton Joe's 7-6 on Sunday in the final game of the three-game series between the Great Lake Summer Collegiate League teams. Smith also singled home Flag City's first run in the first inning. Chris Franks and Tanner Powell had RBI singles during a four-run sixth-inning rally that put the Sluggers up 6-1. Hamilton scored three runs in the sixth inning and trailed just 7-6 in the ninth. Ashby gave up a two-out walk and then a single, but got a grounder to short to end it. Will Lafferty had a single, a double and scored twice for Flag City, which has won seven of eight games and will take a 7-7 record into today's game in Xenia against the GLSCL Southern Division leading Scouts (8-6). Hamilton's Jaxson Christ, Miquel Correra and Aidyn Coffey all had three hits in Sunday's loss to Flag City. Flag City &emsp;&emsp;200 &emsp;&emsp;400 &emsp;&emsp;010—7 9 &emsp;&emsp;0 Hamilton &emsp;&emsp;001 &emsp;&emsp;003 &emsp;&emsp;020—6 9 &emsp;&emsp;2 WP—Speir. LP—Thompson. TOP HITTERS: (FC) Lafferty 1B, 2B; Powell 2-1B; Ca. Smith 1B, 2B, RBI; Curlis 2B. (Ham) Christ 2-1B, RBI; Correra 2-1B; Coffey 2-1B. (14-sub head) Legion goes 1-3 FINDLAY – The Findlay American Legion baseball team split two one-run games at Liberty-Benton on Saturday and went 1-3 in pool play in the PBR Border Challenge tournament. Findlay beat the Motor City Bulldogs 5-4 in Saturday's first game at the L-B Field, but dropped their second game to the State Line Stars 3-2. Post 3 overcame a 3-0 deficit against the Motor City Bulldogs, with Luke Long's double and a two-run single by Brady Lance putting Findlay in front. Lance and Kellen Frankart both had two hits, with Frankart also earning the pitching win, allowing just one run on three hits and striking out six in 5-1/3 innings of relief. Findlay also faced a 3-0 deficit against State Line, but came up one run short. Luke Crates had two hits and Grady Mason and Trenton Smith drove in runs for Post 3. In its tournament openers at Mercy Field in Toledo, Findlay dropped a 6-3 decision to the Motor City Hit Dogs and fell 9-1 to Midland Scout '25. Landen Stansbery drew a bases-loaded walk in the second inning and, along with Frankart, had an RBI single in the third. The Hit Dogs erased that lead, though, with a five-run rally in the fifth. Carter Dubois and Caden Fritz both collected two hits for Findlay. Fritz also had two hits in Post 3's opener, including an RBI double to tie the game 1-1 in the fourth inning. Midland answered quickly, though, scoring five times in the fifth to pull away. Findlay's Post 3 18U club will next compete in the Don Cross Classic, a tournament hosted and held in Cambridge over the July 4th weekend. Schedule TUESDAY'S EVENTS GLSCL BASEBALL Flag City Sluggers at Xenia Scouts, 7:05 p.m.