Cougars headed to ACME state tourney

Van Wert independent sports

CELINA — It took two days, but Van Wert clinched a district championship and a spot in the ACME baseball state tournament with a 9-3 win over St. Marys Memorial on Tuesday.

The game began at Shawnee High School on Monday but was halted by heavy rain with the Cougars leading 5-2 in the sixth inning, before resuming at Celina on Tuesday. ACME rules state that all tournament games must be played to completion.

Van Wert (12-2-3) has won eight consecutive games and has qualified for the state tournament in four of the last five seasons.

The Cougars put the game away with four runs in the seventh inning. TJ Reynolds was hit by a pitch, stole second, then advanced to third on a balk. Parker Conrad walked and was replaced by pinch runner Hunter Bolenbaugh, then Turner Witten singled to center field and drove in Reynolds, giving Van Wert a 6-3 lead.

One batter later, Bolenbaugh scored from third on an error, then Jacob Place drove in Logan Collins. The scoring concluded when Kaiden Bates scored on the second Roughrider error of the inning.

Van Wert’s first four runs came in the first inning on Monday. A double by Witten plated Reynolds and Conrad, Bates drove in Witten and Owen Treece added a run. The remaining run was scored in the sixth inning, when Bates crossed home plate on an RBI single by Place.

The Roughriders scored a run in the third, one in the fifth and another in the sixth inning.

Witten was 3-4 at the plate with three RBIs, while Place had a pair of hits and two RBIs. Bates chipped in with two hits and an RBI, and the Cougars finished with 10 hits.

Owen Treece pitched the first five innings and allowed two runs on five hits while striking out five and walking four. Conrad pitched the remaining two innings and gave up a run on three hits.

Van Wert is scheduled to face Minster (12-4) in the opening round of the ACME state tournament at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday Veteran’s Field in Coldwater.