VW one-hits, no-hits Delphos Jefferson

Van Wert independent sports

Van Wert opened the 2019 high school baseball season on Saturday by sweeping Delphos Jefferson and allowing just one hit in two games.

Haden Maples and Parker Conrad combined for a no hitter in the first game, and the Cougars won 10-0 in six innings. Maples tossed five innings and struck out six, with Conrad pitching the sixth and final inning.

Seven of Van Wert’s runs came in the third inning. After Conrad scored on an error, Maples singled in Mason McHugh, then Jake Lautzenheiser crossed home plate after Nathan Temple was hit by a pitch. A grounder by Lawson Blackmore scored T.J. Reynolds, then the Cougars went up 6-0 when Maples and Temple scored on a Wildcat error. A third error plated plated Ryan Hollingsworth.

Van Wert’s final three runs came in the bottom of the sixth, when Reynolds scored on a passed ball, Jaxson Amweg scored on a fielder’s choice and Blackmore crossed home plate on a passed ball.

Maples and Keaton Brown each had a pair of hits to pace Van Wert’s eight hit attack, while Hollingsworth led the Cougars with two RBI.

Behind a one hitter by Owen Treece, Van Wert won the back end of Saturday’s doubleheader 11-0 in five innings. Treece fanned 12 and walked just one.

Maples scored on an error in the first, Amweg scored on a fly ball in the second, then Amweg scored on a error to increase Van Wert’s lead to 3-0 after two innings.

Just like the first game, the Cougars scored seven runs in the third. Blackmore stole home, Lautzenheiser drove in Amweg, a bases loaded walk scored Brown, and Treece scored on an error to increase the lead to 7-0. A triple to right field by Temple then plated Lautzenheiser, Reynolds and Maples.

Jalen McCracken opened the bottom of the fourth with a single, then advanced second on a passed ball, advanced to third on an error then scored on another Delphos Jefferson error to account for the final run.
The Wildcats had six errors in the game.

Blackmore paced Van Wert with a pair of hits and Temple finished with three RBI.

“I was very pleased with our performance in all phases of the game,” Van Wert head coach Charlie Witten said. “Owen Treece, Hayden Maples, and Parker Conrad did a great job throwing strikes and changing speeds on the mound.”

“Even though many guys had good days at the plate, Nathan Temple was the catalyst for our offense, executing our game plan at the plate to perfection. Defensively, we made the routine plays and Lawson Blackmore was our leader on the base paths.”

Logan Gallmeier had Delphos Jefferson’s lone hit.

The Cougars (2-0) are scheduled to host Spencerville today, while Delphos Jefferson (0-2) is slated to entertain Kalida.