Sluggers pound their way to 19-4 win over Southern Ohio

SLUGGERS &emsp;&emsp;19 COPPERHEADS &emsp;&emsp;4 FINDLAY – The Flag City Sluggers continued to live up to their nickname, pounding out 14 hits and scoring a season-high 19 runs in a 19-4 win over the Southern Ohio Copperheads in Sunday's Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League cross-over game at Fifth Third Field. Flag City's third straight win upped its overall record to 10-9 heading into a key GLSCL North Division series with the Michigan Monarchs (11-10). The first two games between the teams, who are in a virtual tie for second place in the GLSCL North standings, will have 7:05 p.m. starts today and Wednesday at Hills Stadium on the Hillsdale College campus. Flag City will be the host team for the third game at 7:05 p.m. on Thursday, then faces three road games against the league-leading Lima Locos (14-6) on July 4, 5 and 6. Flag City crushed Southern Ohio 12-1 last Friday and jumped to a 5-0 first-inning lead before Saturday's game was suspended by bad weather. The Sluggers continued their offensive assault back in Findlay on Sunday, storming to a 15-0 lead with four-run rallies in the first and second innings and a seven-run outburst in the third. Caleb Smith's two-run single sparked the first-inning rally, Harrison Engskov belted a three-run home run in the second, and Chris Franks, Engskov, Tanner Powell and Matt Gardner all delivered RBI hits in the third. Andrew Stechschulte's two-run double highlighted another four-run rally in the sixth. Engskov, who is tied for third in the GLSCL in home runs (2), second (.397) to teammate Powell (.404) in batting average, and third in runs-batted-in (19), had two hits and drove in four runs. Brayden Curlis scored four runs and Engskov and Franks scored three times each. Franks, Brett Reed, Engskov and Gardner all had two hits. Tylan Graves had a pair of base hits for Southern Ohio (8-12). Bryce Stenzel, the first of four Flag City pitchers, earned the win. The right-hander out of the University of Missouri-St. Louis, gave up just one run on three hits and struck out five in his four-inning stint on the mound. S. Ohio &emsp;&emsp;000 &emsp;&emsp;103 &emsp;&emsp;0—4 7 &emsp;&emsp;2 Flag City &emsp;&emsp;447 &emsp;&emsp;004 &emsp;&emsp;x-19&emsp;&emsp;14 &emsp;&emsp;1 WP—Stenzel (2-1). LP—Spinner (1-2). TOP HITTERS: (SO) Graves 2-1B; Ferguson 2B, RBI; Taylor 1B, 2 RBI. (FC) Franks 2-1B, RBI; Engskov 1B, HR, 4 RBI; Powell 1B, 2 RBI; Smith 1B, 2 RBI; Reed 1B, 2B, RBI; Stechschulte 2B, 3 RBI; Gardner 2-1B, RBI. (14-sub head) Myers to be inducted KALIDA – Stan Myers, who spent 31 years coaching spring and summer baseball at Ottawa-Glandorf, will be one of three men inducted into the ACME Baseball Congress Hall of Fame when the state ACME tournament is held July 12-14 at Kalida's recently renovated Holy Name Ballpark. Myers was on the O-G staff when the Titans advanced to the OHSAA Class AA state semifinals in 1979 and later compiled a 248-219 record is 21 seasons as the Titans' head coach. Myers also served as ACME coach for 31 years, guiding the Titans to a 398-203 record, 16 league championships, a state runner-up finish in 1980 and six other trips to the state tournament. Myers has also been an assistant coach with Bluffton University and the Lima Locos team in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League. He has been a recommending scout for the Cincinnati Reds for 37 years and an instructor at training camps at all levels of the game. The induction ceremonies will be held on July 12, the first day of the state ACME Tournament. Seven district champions, plus the host team, will compete in a single-elimination tournament, with the semifinals on Saturday, July 13 and the final at 7 p.m., July 14. Kalida bid for, and was accepted as the host team, of the state ACME tournament after updating and renovating Holy Name Ballpark. The facility, with an enclosed grandstand capable of seating 1,200 fans, was built in 1949 and in its early years saw some iconic visitors, including Satchel Paige and many of the barn-storming Negro League teams like the Homestead Grays, Chattanooga Black Lookouts, Birmingham Black Barons and Black Yankees. Teams from the All-American Girls League, founded by Philip K. Wrigley in 1943 to keep the sport of baseball front and center while many of the game's elite players were overseas, and basis for the movie, A League of Their Own, also played there. The Junior ACME state tournament will also be in the area, with Liberty-Benton hosting two first-round games on July 7, then the semifinals on July 8 and the final on July 9. Racing FINDLAY – Three straight nights of sprint car racing will conclude at Millstream Speedway on Saturday with the Quarter Mile Spectacular II. Following events at Waynesfield on Thursday and Limaland on Frida, Millstream will host Great Lakes Super Sprints 360 (winged) and 410 (non-winged) races on Saturday, along with Dirt Trucks racing. Admission is $20 for adults and $18 for seniors. Children under 10 are admitted free. Schedule TUESDAY'S EVENTS GLSCL BASEBALL Flag City at Michigan Monarchs, 7:05 p.m.