KALIDA – Senior hurler Ryan Lucke tossed a one-hit shutout on Tuesday evening to keep the Wildcats unbeaten in Putnam County League play as they downed visiting Ottoville 1-0.
Making his second start of the season after a victory against Pandora Gilboa last week, Lucke sent down the first two batters he faced in the top of the opening inning before plunking Big Green catcher Jack Langhals before recovering to strike out Josh Thorbahn.
Thorbahn allowed just a single Wildcat to reach in his first two frames on the hill, a single by Luke Erhart and turned away a pair via strikeout to keep the game scoreless into the third.
Ryan Klausing reached for Kalida in the bottom of the third but was quickly removed by a fielders choice that allowed teammate Jaden Smith to take his place on the bases with one out. Following a Brandon Miller walk and a Lucke strikeout looking the Wildcats punched across the only run of the contest on a ball slapped into the outfield by Erhart who would find himself advancing to second on an overthrow.
Ottoville’s lone hit of the ballgame came in the top of the fourth inning of play on a double by Thorbahn but led to no damage on the visitors side of the scoreboard as three teammates found themselves as strikeout victims against Lucke.
After scoring their run, the Wildcats were unable to add a baserunner to their tally for the rest of the contest as Thorbahn retired the final 10 batters he faced in his six innings of work, including three by strikeout.
Ten of the final eleven hitters for Ottoville found themselves suffering a similar fate to their maroon and gold counterparts on the offensive side as only Thorbahn reached base for the rest of the contest before a pair of fly outs to centerfield brought the game to a conclusion at an hour and 18 minutes of play.
Speaking of his pitcher after the game Kalida first year head coach Chad Ehrnsberger opined “Ryan put the team on his shoulders tonight. He came out like a bulldog and pitched like the leader he is. He works so hard at everything and it’s awesome as a coach to see hard workers get rewarded with success. To throw a complete game shutout against your rival is something he’ll remember for a long time. He’s an awesome kid who deserves all of the success in the world.”
Kalida jumps into the drivers seat in the PCL with the win as they move to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in league tilts. Next up for the Wildcats is a trip to McComb on Friday to battle the Panthers.
Ottoville (3-2, 1-1) has dropped back to back games and will look to regroup Friday night in Antwerp where they will battle an Archer squad expected to be one of the best in Division 4 this season.
Josh Thorbahn (1-1) took the loss for the Big Green as he tossed six innings of work giving up one run on two hits and walking a pair while racking up six strikeouts.
Ryan Lucke upped his spring record to 2-0 on the season by allowing no runs on one hit and striking out seven Ottoville hitters while allowing a single walk and hitting one batter.