The Daily Standard
Story Archive
Minster's Andrew Wiss, middle, celebrates with Carson Kaylor (10) and Jace Hemmelgarn (9) after scoring in the second inning of Thursday's district semifinal at Elida.
ELIDA - It took a little bit of everything for Minster to beat Lima Central Catholic 3-1 in Thursday's Division VII district semifinal at Elida's Ed Sandy Field. After an error gave the Wildcats a 2-0 lead, a pair of late double plays with the tying run on helped them hold on and win to keep their season alive.
Next for Minster is a Saturday matinee at Bryan's Sumpter Field against Montpelier, with first pitch set for noon in the district title clash. The Locomotives took down Edon 10-0 in their district semifinal on Thursday. The two teams met in the regional final last season, with Minster winning 3-0 on Louis Magoto's no-hitter.
"There were some moments where it was pitch-by-pitch," said Minster coach Mike Wiss, whose team improves to 17-8 with the win. "Every pitch means something, there has been plenty of run rules in the tournament and a fair share of seven inning games. The tournament can do a lot of stuff to a lot of people, so we just needed calmness tonight."
A scoreless first helped Minster start Carson Kaylor settle in, while LCC pitcher Brady Malcom worked around Kaylor's single to keep the 'Cats off the board.
The home half of the second inning began painfully for Jace Hemmelgarn, who took a fastball square in the back to reach first. A two-out walk to Andrew Wiss paved the way for John Inskeep to deliver the game's first highlight.
His grounder to shortstop Brady Jacobs looked like a rally-killer, but the toss to first was well wide of the bag. With the runners in motion on contact, both Hemmelgarn and Andrew Wiss touched home while Inskeep made it to third on the play. Jacobs made up for it the next at bat to end the frame, but Minster took the 2-0 lead into the third.
The margin did not last long as the Thunderbirds found a response the next inning. Andrew Baldauf's grounder to third skipped just over the glove of James Kuehner at third base to put the lead off man on.
Minster's James Kuehner fields a ground ball at third base against LCC.
Jacobs' grounder back to Kuehner gave the fans deja vu when the throw was just wide of the bag. Despite the best efforts of Hayden Linn to tag Jacobs out at first, it was not in time and LCC was on the board.
A quiet third from Minster set up a big fourth inning as the game passed the midway point. A leadoff single from designated hitter Connor Elliot was lined past shortstop, and Elliott got in scoring position off a bunt. Kaylor came up later with Elliott on third and one out, but his grounder to second looked to end the threat on a double play.
While the T-Birds were able to get the force out at second, Kaylor beat the wild throw to first as Elliott touched home. Kaylor made it to second on the throw, but was held there as Malcom got out of the jam.
It was a familiar sight in the fifth when LCC got the first two hitters on base, but a strikeout and double play off Malcom's bat kept Minster ahead. A similar story happened in the sixth when Hemmelgarn laid out for a popup in right field that stranded a pair of T-Birds.
Minster's Jace Hemmelgarn shows the ball in his glove after making a diving catch against Lima Central Catholic at Elida's Ed Sandy Field.
While Minster could not give bullpen arm Dom Meyer any more support in the home half, the team needed just three outs to survive. A lead off walk to Michael Quatman led to fingernail biting throughout the Minster section.
Meyer used a fastball to get Jacobs out swinging for the first out while JJ Schnieders earned a walk to put the tying run on. It was up to Malcom with the game on his bat and the ever changing strike zone playing a factor.
Down 1-2 in the count, Meyer's pitch was placed perfectly and Malcom drilled the ball toward second. A quick flip from Reese Beair to Andrew Wiss got the force out, while Wiss' throw was aided by a good stretch from Kaylor at first to end the game.
"The two double plays were with Andrew (Wiss) and Reese (Beair), both seniors up the middle. Those were just about as nice as you can draw them up to get out of two jams," said coach Wiss.
All in all, LCC left 10 on base as Kaylor and Meyer worked through the trouble with key spots. Kaylor got the win and struck out five over five innings, while Meyer picked up the save after his two frames of scoreless ball.
With just four hits scattered on offense, the Minster lineup found production from everywhere. Ty Hein walked twice, while key bunts from himself and Wiss helped the lineup move.
"I ask the older guys that have been there make sure we are calm out there," said coach Wiss. "The calmer we keep everybody, the better we play. We can't be too fancy about who we are and what we do because we just need to be us."
