Shutting them down

CELINA - Fans arriving late to Montgomery Field for Monday's ACME baseball game missed all the offense.

Marion Local scored its run in the first inning before Celina's Ethan Piper shut down the Flyers. Austin Cotterman's two-run bloop double in the second held up for the Bulldogs to pick up the 2-1 win and split the season series with the Flyers.

Piper, who struggled in his last start by allowing five runs in the first inning to Fort Recovery, got the first two outs in the top of the first before Brandon Fleck singled. After Fleck stole second, Nate Ungruhn singled to put runners at first and third for Matt Moeller, who singled to center to score Fleck. Reece Hess walked to load the bases, but that was the last Flyer baserunner for a long time as Piper struck out Kyle Francis to leave the bases loaded.

Piper set down the Flyer side in order in the second through sixth innings, striking out seven batters in those innings and finished with 10 punchouts in the game.

"Ethan struggled in the first inning. After that, he hit cruise control," said Celina coach Jimmy Luebke. "He settled in, threw strikes and got outs.

"He was pounding the strike zone and kept them off-balanced with his curve."

"We had four hits, and three of them were in that first inning," Marion coach Glenn Griesdorn said.

Celina answered the Flyers in the second inning. Quinn Andrew drew a one-out walk. Marion pitcher Nolan Habodasz struck out Zach Stein for the second out, but then hit Nash Weimert and Bransen Miller to load the bases for Cotterman, who blooped a hit into short left field, scoring Andrew and Weimert and allowing Cotterman to reach second. Habodasz then retired Caden Highley for the third out.

"We just put something together and it worked for us," said Luebke.

"We got into trouble. We walked a batter and hit a batter. They both scored," Griesdorn said.

Habodasz kept Celina from adding runs the rest of the game, scattering three hits and two walks while getting solid defense from his teammates. Piper hit into a 6-4-3 double play in the third inning to end one threat. Then in the fifth, Grant Wagner was robbed of a base hit when Kyle Muhlenkamp made a diving catch to end the inning.

"He pitched pretty well, too," Luebke said of Habodasz. "We just put two runs together at the perfect time."

Piper continued his hot pitching at the start of the seventh, striking out Fleck and Ungruhn for his 17th and 18th straight outs. Moeller ended the streak by drawing a four-pitch walk. Hess followed with a single to put runners at first and second. After a brief pep talk from Luebke, Piper ended the game by getting Francis to fly out to Highley in center.

Wagner had two hits for the Bulldogs (3-2 Mercer County).

Celina hosts Coldwater in a doubleheader on Wednesday starting at 6 p.m. Marion Local (4-2 County) travels to St. Henry on Wednesday.