Friday, May 6th, 2016

Howell, 'Riders shut down Bulldogs

By Gary R. Rasberry
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard

St. Marys' Evan Vogel, 6, waits for the ball as Celina's Tanner Freeman slides in safely into second during Thursday's WBL game at Montgomery Field. The Roughriders beat the Bulldogs 5-0.

CELINA - From the second through the sixth innings, Celina and St. Marys engaged in a classic pitcher's duel.
It was the first and seventh innings that made the Roughriders the happier team as they came out of Montgomery Field with a 5-0 win over the Bulldogs in WBL play to snap a four-game losing skid.
Two runs in the first thanks to five base hits gave St. Marys (8-10, 4-5 WBL) enough offense for starting pitcher Dustin Howell, who scattered six hits for the complete-game shutout.
Nathan Wilker led off the game with a single. Drew Jacobs bunted his way on for a hit and Howell drove in the go-ahead run with a single. Chase Roop lofted a deep-enough fly to right to score Jacobs for the second out. The Roughriders were poised to score more with back-to-back, two-out singles by Julius Fisher and Austin Cook to load the bases, but C.J. Kimmel was able to get the final out.
"They hit when they had to," Celina coach Andy Mikesell said of St. Marys.
After that, Kimmel found his mark and kept the Roughriders from adding runs to keep the Bulldogs within shouting distance. After getting five hits in the first, St. Marys was held to just four hits over the next five innings.
"I thought he pitched well," St. Marys coach Jeff Dieringer said of Kimmel. "We hit some balls on the nose that were right at guys that didn't translate into runs."
Meanwhile, Howell was weaving in and out of traffic. Celina had just six hits but took advantage of four walks. The trouble was, the Bulldogs couldn't come up with the clutch hit to bring in a run. Celina stranded 10 runners on base in the game, seven of which were on second or third base when an inning ended.
"We didn't hit when we had to," Mikesell. "I don't have any answers."
In the seventh, the Roughriders, who were reminded of the football team's 28-21 loss to Celina during the Senior Day festivities before the game, added some cushion.
Howell doubled and Roop singled to start the inning. After a fly out, Fisher singled in Howell and Cook followed with a single to load the bases. Mikesell called in Tanner Freeman to try and get out of the jam, but pinch-hitter Logan Dircksen hit a two-run single to make it 5-0 before Freeman could end the inning.
"I thought we were uncomfortable with a two-run lead going to the seventh," Dieringer said. "I wanted them to hang a number. It's great to see us come through with runners in scoring position. That's something we've struggled with."
All that was left for Howell was to preserve the shutout, but Kole Murlin led off with a walk. Howell recovered to get back-to-back outs before Isaiah Eichler singled to put runners on the corners for Kimmel, who grounded to third to end the game.
"He threw strikes and got ahead of guys well," Dieringer said of Howell. "He didn't try to do too much. He didn't try and blow it past anybody. Our defense made some plays to give him some confidence. I'm proud of him."
"Our worst enemy right now isn't the pitcher, it's ourselves," Mikesell said. "We have to get straight mentally to get going Saturday."
Howell, Roop, Fisher and Cook each had two hits for St. Marys.
The Roughriders host Spencerville today before traveling to Bath on Saturday to start the Division II sectional tournament against the Wildcats. Celina's game with Dunbar today has been cancelled. The Bulldogs also open tourney play on Saturday by hosting Toledo Rogers at 11 a.m.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard

Celina's Seth Lonsway tosses the ball to first base to try and get out a St. Marys runner.

Additional online story on this date
MERCER COUNTY - Social worker Tonya Siefring, who oversees the county's foster care system, was a shoo-in to become a foster parent herself.
The as [More]
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
CELINA - Tess Elshoff believes every gift or curse has a reason.
The State Board of Education vice president on Thursday told Women in Leadership o
MERCER COUNTY - County officials are seeing more children needing foster care, leading to an unprecedented spike in placement costs.
In the first q
MERCER COUNTY - The Mercer County Department of Job and Family Services intervenes in households when contacted about concerns of abuse and/or neglect of children, Tonya Siefring, assistant supervisor of social services, said.
CELINA - Two suspects in the armed robbery of the Dollar General store in Rockford pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges.
Edward Smith, 44, Fort W
CELINA - Justin Keeling will further his education and get a chance to play a little baseball after the Celina senior announced on Thursday he will attend The Ohio State University in Lima.
ST. HENRY - So many scoring chances were missed by Fort Recovery and St. Henry throughout Thursday night's game at Wally Post Athletic Complex.
St. Henry senior Josh Osterholt made the most of his chance in the bottom of the 11th.
Mercer County Knights of Columbus Track and Field Meet
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
The Celina boys had a strong day to take a big lead after the first day of the 2016 Mercer County Knights of Columbus Invitational at Cavalier Stadium in Coldwater. The Celina girls have the slim lead over Marion Local.
Thursday's Local Roundup
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
Trace Walls' two-out single in the top of the 12th inning scored Derrick Mosier and gave Parkway a 6-5 marathon victory over Marion Local in MAC baseball action Thursday in Maria Stein.