ACME team falls, Post 178 trailing

Van Wert independent sports

Van Wert’s ACME season came to an end in the state tournament, while Legion Post 178 faces elimination from the regional tournament.

Minster 5 Van Wert 3

COLDWATER — Two runs in the third and three more in the fourth proved to be enough, as Minster ended Van Wert’s ACME baseball season 5-3 in the state tournament at Coldwater’s Veterans Field on Saturday.

The Cougars took a 1-0 lead in the first when Owen Treece, who singled earlier in the inning, scored on a Wildcat error.

The score remained 1-0 until Minster struck in the bottom of the third. Jack Oblerding opened the inning with a double then scored on a single to left by Austin Brown, who later scored on a wild pitch to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead.

All three of Minster’s fourth inning runs came with two outs. Oblerding drove in Jacob Niemeyer, an RBI single by Brown plated Oblerding, and Trent Roetgerman’s RBI double scored Brown, giving the Wildcats a 5-1 lead.

A fifth inning RBI single by Treece allowed Keaton Brown to cross home plate and Levi Eddins scored on a sacrifice fly by Ethan Rupert in the sixth, but Van Wert could draw no closer.

Treece and Parker Conrad each had two hits for the Cougars, and Treece pitched six innings and allowed five runs on nine hits, while amassing seven strikeouts and walking three.

Brown finished with three hits and two RBIs for Minster and Oblerding had an RBI to go along with three hits. Ethan Lehmkuhl pitched the first six innings, striking out four, walking three and allowing six hits. Oblerding pitched the final inning and fanned two.

Van Wert finished the season 12-3-3.

Troy Legion Post 43 6 Legion Post 178 2
Greenville Legion Post 140 7 Legion Post 178 4 (suspended)

TROY — Van Wert American Post 178 lost its opening game of the regional tournament 6-2 and is down 7-4 in the second game in the double elimination format.

In the first game, Legion Post 178 grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Jaden Youtsey scored on a two out RBI single to left field by Parker Conrad.

However, Troy Legion Post 43 struck back with four runs in the bottom of the inning, then scored runs in the fifth and sixth innings.

Post 178’s remaining run came in the sixth when Jaxson Amweg drove in Jon Lee from second base. Two runners were on base after that, but a double play ended the inning.

Hayden Maples and Parker Conrad each had two hits for Post 178. Nick Woods pitched 4.2 innings and allowed five runs (four earned) on five hits while striking out four and walking six. Braden Zuber pitched the remaining 2.1 innings and gave up a run on one hit with two strikeouts and four walks.

Post 178 is trailing Greenville Rolling Thunder 7-4 in a game that began Sunday evening, but was stopped by rain. Play is scheduled to resume at 5:30 today and if Post 178 loses, the season will be over.

So far, Alex Schneider has two hits for Post 178, while Jon Lee has two RBIs. Three of Post 178’s runs came in third inning, but Greenville scored a pair of runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth.