Kaiser’s home run lifts Roughriders to victory

The St. Marys baseball team pulled out a tough 1-0 victory over Galion on Thursday in the opening round of the Division II sectional tournament.

Both teams played very well defensively and both pitchers went the distance allowing a combined five hits between the two.

The pitching showdown between Cole Koenig of St. Marys and Max Albert for the Tigers was ultimately decided on one swing of the bat in the fifth inning, as freshman Jacob Kaiser had the lone run for the Riders off a solo homer.

For St. Marys, Koenig pitched an excellent seven innings, only allowing three hits and a walk. He would lose some control late and strike three batters with the ball, and got three strikeouts.

For Galion, Albert pitched very well in the loss, he would strike out seven, but walked three and hit one Rider batter in a two-hit allowed outing.

Joey Caldwell and Kaiser had the only hits for the Roughriders, Caldwell had a double in the second. Kaiser made up all of the Riders’ offense on the scoreboard with his roundtripper.

Riders manager Adam Graves spoke about the freshman’s progress this year, “Jacob has only played in about three varsity games for us and he’s a kid that had a good year on JV and he’s come up and had a few opportunities and takes advantage of them. What a big hit for a freshman for us tonight,” said Graves. Adding “I think he’s come in and the few atbats he’s had for us and there hasn’t been any fear from him, he’s come in with a lot of confidence and it’s showing, it’s all you can ask for from a kid that hasn’t had much varsity experience for us.”

Galion’s Landon Campbell, Hudson Miller and Allen Carver each had singles off Koening but none were able to score in the shutout. Graves talked about the team approach to the game and Koening’s pitching following the win.

“Today was a game we talked about from the very beginning. We knew we had to be focused from pitch one to the last one, we had a good week of practice leading up to today and the focus was there. Cole came in and did what he did for us all year pitching, not an overpowering guy but kept them off-balance and when you throw strikes you’re going to be successful,” said Graves.

With the win, the Riders pick up a seventh win on the year and end Galion’s season at 8-15.

St. Marys advances to the sectional finals where they will play at Wapakoneta today. The Western Buckeye League foes played in April, with the Redskins earning a 4-2 win at home. The Riders will now look to not only end the Redskins season but continue their own.

Graves spoke about playing Wapakoneta in the sectional finals, “I expect we’re going to come out with the same focus, it’s a rivalry game, we played the 4-2 in the regular seasons so it’s one of those where we’re excited to still be alive to begin with, and keep the season rolling this gives us an opportunity to keep playing.”

Score by innings

St. Marys 000 010 x - 1 2 0 Galion 000 000 0 - 0 3 0 WP — Koenig; LP — Albert

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Minster 5, Elmwood 0

MINSTER — After a one-day delay due to rain, Minster won its Division III sectional baseball tournament opener on Thursday, as they shut out Elmwood 5-0 at Melcher Street Park.

The Wildcats, now 16-9 on the year, will face the #6 seed Lakota in a sectional final today, with Minster again playing host.

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On Thursday, Eli Rindler threw a complete game for Minster to get the win. He allowed eight hits, walked one and struck out five.

Nathan Oldiges was 3-for-3, and drove in three of the five runs. Logan Kohne had two hits and one RBI. Minster had nine hits in all.

Johnny Nixon singled in the first and was left aboard.

In the second, Minster’s Tyler Stueve was hit by a pitch and Eli Rindler and Adam Rindler both walked to load the bases with two outs. Kohne struck out to end the inning.

Nathan Beair led off the third with a hit to left. He later advanced to second on a wild pitch. With two outs, Zach Fortman was struck by a pitch, then stole second. Oldiges lined a pitch to left, bringing both runners across.

The Wildcats defense turned a double play in the fourth after Rindler hit a batter, which ended the inning.

Minster added to the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Nixon got a walk and Fortman singled to the right side of the infield.

Austin Wellman was put in to run for Nixon and he scored on a single to left by Oldiges.

After Rindler got through the top half unscathed, he drew a walk to lead off the bottom. A courtesy runner was put in, and he took second on a passed ball. Adam Rindler beat out an infield single, putting runners on the corners.

Kohne drove in one run, then Adam Rindler later made it a five-run game on a wild pitch.

Rindler then got the final three outs to wrap matters up.

Lakota defeated Jefferson 12-1 on Thursday to advance. The winner of the sectional final will face either Eastwood or Parkway in a district semifinal next Thursday at Elida.

Score by innings Elmwood 000 000 0 -- 0 8 2 Minster 002 012 x -- 5 9 1