L-B's Knepper, Leatherman combine to 1-hit Bluffton

TOURNAMENTL-BENTON 18BLUFFTON 0FINDLAY – Liberty-Benton pitchers Jackson Knepper and Kooper Leatherman combined on a one-hit shutout and both did some offensive damage when the Eagles blasted Bluffton 18-0 on Saturday in a Division V sectional baseball final.Knepper went the first four innings and allowed one hit – a single by Dylan Painter. Leatherman finished up.Leatherman laced a bases-loaded double and Knepper added a two-run single during a nine-run first inning barrage that set the tone early. Leatherman, who added another double later in the game, drove in three runs and scored twice. Knepper had two hits and two RBI.Like Leatherman, Grady Latta also had two hits, drove in three runs and scored two. Connor Barbara (1B, 2B, 2 RBI) and Reid Irwin (1B, 2B, RBI) had two hits each for the Eagles (17-5), who will face either Fostoria or Paulding 4:30 p.m. Thursday in a district semifinal game at Bluffton University's Memorial Field. Paulding and Fostoria were scheduled to play Saturday, but that game was postponed due to wet grounds and rescheduled for Monday.Bluffton 000 00—0 1 3L-Benton 953 1x—18 15 0WP—Knepper. LP—Crawfis. TOP HITTERS: (L-B) Barbara 1B, 2B, 2 RBI; Neulieb 2B, RBI; Irwin 1B, 2B, RBI; Clum 1B, RBI; Leatherman 2-2B, 3 RBI; Knepper 2-1B, 2 RBI; Latta 2-1B, 3 RBI. VAN BUREN 8LAKOTA 0VAN BUREN – Brayden Gilts pitched a four-hit shutout and Van Buren scored early and often in posting an 8-0 win over Lakota on Saturday in a Division VI sectional final.A senior right-hander, Gilts struck out seven and did not walk a batter.Brady Lance singled, tripled and drove in three runs. Carson Cripple also had two hits and Alex Homan and Finn Martin had RBI singles for the Black Knights, who led 3-0 before doubling that margin in the fourth inning.Van Buren (16-11) will play Elmwood (12-13-1) Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. in a Division VI district semifinal game at the Marathon Diamonds in Findlay. Elmwood earned its spot in that game by beating Hopewell-Loudon 11-8 in nine innings.Lakota 000 000 0—0 4 1Van Buren 120 302 x—8 7 1WP—Gilts. LP—Sweeney. TOP HITTERS: (VB) Homan 1B, RBI; Lance 1B, 3B, 3 RBI; Martin 1B, 2 RBI; Cripple 2-1B, RBI. ST. HENRY 21ADA 0ST. HENRY – St. Henry's top eight batters were a combined 19-for-27 with two home runs, five doubles and 18 runs-batted-in in a 21-0 romp over Ada in a Division VI sectional baseball final.Austin Zimmerman (3 RBI) and Carter LaGuire (2 RBI) homered for the Redskins. Austin Kunk had two doubles and Austin Zimmerman, Owen Zimmerman and Tate Boeckman all had at least one.St. Henry, 21-3 and ranked No. 3 in Division VI, will now face Parkway on Wednesday in a district semifinal game at Upper Scioto Valley.Mason Wibley had a double for Ada, which bows out of post season play with a 9-13 record. COL. GROVE 6NEW BREMEN 3COLUMBUS GROVE – Brady Basinger earned a complete game win and delivered at the plate as well in Columbus Grove's 6-3 Division VI sectional final win over New Bremen.Basinger gave up three runs on four hits and struck out four. He also had two singles and a double and drove in a run.Jacob Ricker was 3-for-3 and scored twice and Gage Sautter, Carter Flores (3 RBI) and Alex Meyer had extra-base hits for Grove. The Bulldogs (19-7) will face Marion Local (12-13) Wednesday at 2 p.m. at Upper Scioto Valley. That winner will then take on either St. Henry or Parkway Friday for the district championship. CAREY 10RIVERDALE 0CAREY – The margin was closer but the verdict was the same when Carey run-ruled Riverdale 10-0 on Monday in a Division VI sectional baseball final.Carey, which beat Riverdale 22-2 in an early season matchup, now faces another rematch when the Blue Devils (22-3) go up against Seneca East (16-6-1) Wednesday at 2 p.m. in a Division VI district semifinal at The Marathon Diamonds. Carey swept the Tigers in Northern 10 Conference play this past season, winning the first game 5-1 in 11 innings and taking the second matchup 6-2. Carey (13-1) and Seneca East (11-3) finished 1-2 in the N10 standings.Van Buren (16-11-1) and Elmwood (12-13-1) will square off in the second semifinal, with the winners returning Friday at 5 p.m. for the district championship game.Against Riverdale on Monday, Louis Watkins (5-2) allowed just two hits and no runs in five solid innings for a complete game five-inning victory. Watkins struck out six and drove in three runs. Benson Kloepfer doubled and scored twice for the Blue Devils. P. HENRY 6CRESTVIEW 5HAMLER – Patrick Henry tied the game with a three-run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning and won it with two runs in the seventh in beating Convoy Crestview 6-5 in a Division VI sectional baseball final on Monday.Mack Hieber had a single and a triple, Jackson Meienburg had a single and a double and both drove in two runs for Patrick Henry. The Patriots (15-7-1) advance to play Ayersville on Wednesday in a district semifinal game at Napoleon. PAULDING 14FOSTORIA 6DEFIANCE – Paulding used a pair of six-run innings in building a 14-1 lead and held on for a 14-6 win over Fostoria in a Division V sectional baseball final on Monday.Zachary Barton (2 RBI), Stroker Etter and Nick Baughman (1B, 3B) all had RBI triples for Paulding. Colten Hunt scored three runs and Grady Arend and Wes Grindstaff score twice for the Panthers (13-11), who will face Liberty-Benton (18-5) Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in a district semifinal game at Bluffton University.Dawson Smith doubled in a run and Emmanuel Jimenez singled and had two RBI for Fostoria.