Despite Smith's grand slam, Sluggers come up just short

XENIA – Flag City's Caleb Smith belted a ninth-inning grand slam on Wednesday, but it was not quite enough to overcome an early deficit in the Sluggers' 8-7 loss to Xenia in a Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League game at Grady's Field in Xenia. Xenia's Troy Lynch doubled home two runs in the first inning and added a two-run home run in the sixth in powering the Scouts to an 8-3 lead. Matt Gardner singled leading off in the ninth, though. Harrison Engskov singled with two outs and Tanner Powell walked to load the bases. Smith then hammered the first pitch he saw from Xenia reliever Carter Hennon over the fence. Hennon settled down, though, and got Chris Franks swinging for the final out. Noah Manasan had three hits for Xenia, the first place team in the GLSCL South Division. Bo Solly's RBI triple highlighted a three-run fourth inning that put the Scouts (10-6) up 5-2. Engskov had an RBI single in the first inning and Will Lafferty drilled a solo home run in the third. Smith's two-out RBI single in the fifth trimmed Xenia's lead to 5-3. Engskov, Smith, Brett Reed and Andrew Stechschulte all had two hits for Flag City. The Sluggers (7-9), who host Xenia today at 7:05 p.m. in the final game of the three-game series with the Scouts, outhit Xenia 11-8. Flag City &emsp;&emsp;101 &emsp;&emsp;010 &emsp;&emsp;004—7 11 &emsp;&emsp;2 Xenia &emsp;&emsp;200 &emsp;&emsp;303 &emsp;&emsp;00x—8 9 &emsp;&emsp;1 WP—Shimmel. LP—Best. TOP HITTERS: (FC) Reed 2-1B; Lafferty HR, RBI; Engskov 2-1B, RBI; Smith 1B, HR, 5 RBI; Stechschulte 1B, 2B. (Xen) Lynch 1B, HR, 4 RBI; Manasan 2-1B, 2B; RBI; Solly 3B, RBI. (14-sub) FAGA golf NORTH BALTIMORE – Addyson Adams carded the best round of the day, a 75, to win the girls 14-18 division of Wednesday's Findlay Area Golf Association tournament at Birch Run Golf Course in North Baltimore. Jackson Knepper's 76 was three strokes better than the 79s of Nathan Alge and Aiden Cline in the boys 16-18 competition. Colten Hoerig (80) won the boys 14-15 title and Clay Bergman (82) the boys 12-13 division. Trysta Adams (56) and Carter McKibben (50) were first in the nine-hole girls 10-13 and boys 10-11 events. FAGA GOLF AT BIRCH RUN BOYS 16-18 – 1, Jackson Knepper 76; 2, Nathan Alge, 79; 3, Aiden Cline 79. GIRLS 14-18 – 1, Addyson Adams 75; 2, Brynn Wells 90; Aubrey Cline 92. BOYS 14-15 – 1, Colten Hoerig 80; 2, Cody Adelsperger 86; 3. Andrew Alge 92. BOYS 12-13 – 1, Clay Bergman 82; 2, Landon Byers 90; 3, Thayne Shepherd 97. GIRLS 10-13—1, Trysta Adams 56; 2, Caroline Bennett 65; 3, Brianne Curry 77. BOYS 10-11 – 1, Carter McKibben 50; 2, Rider Elchert 53; 3, Gavin Weir 56. Schedule WEDNESDAY'S EVENTS GLSCL BASEBALL Xenia Scouts at Flag City Sluggers, 7:05 p.m.