Bellmont wins back-and-forth Adams County battle
Bellmont and South Adams concluded their baseball regular seasons by squaring off in Decatur in a see-saw contest that the Braves held on to win, 8-7 on Monday. The game started with a bang. In the top of the first Kyle Minger drew a leadoff walk. After Minger took second on a passed ball, Owen Wanner caught hold of a pitch and slammed it over the center field wall for a two-run home run.
Wanner’s shot put the Starfires up 2-0, but they were not finished yet in the opening inning.
Singles by Caleb Hirschfeld and Corey Lenington bookended a walk drawn by Luke Bauman. With the bases loaded, Brady Beall was hit by a pitch, forcing in Hirschfeld.
South Adams carried a threerun advantage to the bottom of the first, but Monday’s game was replete with twists in the plot. As such, the Starfire lead did not last long with Bellmont (9-11, 4-3 Northeast Eight) striking back in their half of the first.
Eli Laurent made his way into scoring position with a double in the bottom of the first. He would come around when Austin Christner produced a two-bagger of his own in the following at-bat.
Christner alertly advanced to third on the throw home. Doing so allowed him to score on a groundout by Dylan Velez. Consecutive singles by Jack Scheumann and Keagan Martin preceded another base hit by Beau Baker which scored Scheumann to tie the game.
After a wild first inning, the Braves surged ahead in the second.
Andrew Zimmerman was hit by a pitch before Andrew James and Laurent singled to load the bases. Christner put the Braves in front with his second RBI double in the first two innings, but this time a pair of runs scored.
Velez knocked in his second run of the day on a single to left that drove in Laurent.
A total of nine runs were scored in the first two innings. Strangely, neither team would score again until the sixth when South Adams (16-12, 2-4 Allen County) chiseled away at their deficit.
In the top half of the inning, Hunter Kongar doubled prior to scoring on a single by Minger. The Starfires would pull to within one when an Owen Wanner sacrifice fly scored Minger who had progressed to third on the back of a successful steal of second followed by a wild pitch.
A Bellmont response did not take long, though.
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Laurent hit another double to bring in James and Will Baker.
But even with the additional insurance, the Braves were still not in the clear.
With two runners in scoring position in the seventh, a single by Gavin Myers drove in one run. Manuel Juarez followed with a base hit that plated Matt Steiner and moved the potential game-tying run into scoring position.
A sacrifice bunt pushed Juarez to third, but that was as close as the Starfires would get to evening the score.
The game ended when a fly ball was caught by Shortstop Andrew James.
South Adams will have Tuesday off before starting Sectional play on Wednesday at Eastbrook in the Class 2A Blackford Sectional in Hartford City.
Bellmont will be idle until Saturday when they face Maconaquah in the first round of the Class 3A Oak Hill Sectional in Converse.
Though Monday was the final home baseball game at Bellmont for the 2023 season, a presentation was held before the game that gave fans excitement about what is to come for Bellmont baseball.
Representatives of the Porter family were on hand to present a $60,000 check to Bellmont Athletic Director Dale Manis.
The money is a donation on behalf of the Porter Family Foundation/ Formula Boats that will go toward the renovation of the school’s baseball stadium.