Cougars, Blue Jays split baseball DH

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

Weatherwise, it felt more like fall than spring, but Van Wert and Delphos St. John’s played two games at Smiley Park on Saturday.

The end result was a split–-the Cougars (13-4) won game one 8-3, and Delphos St. John’s (10-6) won the second game of the doubleheader, 5-1.

Van Wert wasted no time seizing control in the opening game. Caleb Fetzer’s RBI single to left field scored Mason Carr, who opened the bottom of the first with a single of his own. With two outs, the Cougars would score two more runs. James Acquaviva belted a double to left field, scoring Fetzer, then Hayden Maples singled home Acquaviva.

In the second inning and with two outs, Fetzer doubled to left, scoring Jake Lautzenheiser and Carr, who finished the game by going 3-for-3 at the plate, and scoring three runs.

The Cougars padded their lead in the sixth inning. With the bases loaded, Acquaviva walked, scoring Carr. Maples singled again, scoring Fetzer and Jaxson Amweg to make it 8-1. Maples and Fetzer each finished 2-for-3, with three RBI.

Maples also earned the pitching win, by scattering seven hits over seven innings, striking out four and walking two batters.

The Blue Jays scored their runs in the first and seventh innings. A double by Seth Linder scored Troy Schwinnen in the opening inning, and in the final inning, Aaron Reindel crossed home plate on an RBI single by Troy Elwer, then Schwinnen scored Josh Warnecke.

Delphos St. John’s turned the tables in game two by scoring four runs in the top of the ninth inning, in a 5-1 victory.

With two outs, the Blue Jays used a pair of RBI doubles to break a 1-1 tie. Seth Linder’s hit scored Colin Will, then Tony Sanders reached home plate on a two-bagger by Eric Vogt, who then advanced to third on an error, then scored on a subsequent error.

The other run by Delphos St. John was scored in the first inning, on single by Vogt that scored Schwinnen.

Van Wert’s lone run of the game came in the fifth inning, when Holden Willingham scored on an error. The Cougars finished the second game with three hits, singles by Willingham, Fetzer and T.J. Reynolds.

Willingham pitched 8.2 innings, and allowed four runs on six hits, while walking one and fanning one. Jake Lautzenheiser pitched the rest of the game, allowing a run on a single hit.

Box scores:

Game one
Delphos St. John’s 100 000 2–-3
Van Wert                  320 003 x–-8

Game two
Delphos St. John’s 100 000 004–-5
Van Wert                  000 010 000–-1