HAMLER – Nine errors Wednesday afternoon doomed Lincolnview as their season came to an end with a 10-8 loss to Delphos St. Johns.
Faced with playing defense in a near and sometimes over 20 mile per hour wind, the normally sound Lancers were riddled with bobbled balls and errant throws.
“We didn’t make enough plays defensively tonight to put ourselves in a position to win a district tournament game but I’m very proud of the kids for displaying a never quit attitude” said Lancer coach Eric Fishpaw.
St. Johns opened the scoring in the top of the first frame against Lincolnview starter Luke Bollenbacher as leadoff hitter Landon Grothause singled and scored thanks to a throwing error by the NWC champions to take a 1-0 lead.
Lincolnview’s first advantage of the back and forth contest came quickly as a pair of walks to Chayse Overholt and Austin Bockrath in the bottom of the first proved costly on a double by Jack Dunlap brought home both.
Third inning scores from St. Johns and Lincolnview on an RBI single and a passed ball respectively pushed the game to a 3-3 tie heading into the fourth.
Two errors by Austin Bockrath and a pair of sacrifice flies from Grothause and Cam Elwer again notched a lead for the Jays at 5-3 but once again proved to be short lived as Lincolnview would soon draw even.
Singles by Brandon Renner and Chayse Overholt against reliever Austin Moenter gave the Lancers a pair of runners with two outs in the home fourth. Senior Dane Ebel, relegated to the designated hitter role for the day due to an arm issue slapped a ball off the base of the outfield wall for a 2-RBI double to again even the contest at 5-5.
After chasing Bollenbacher from the game in the fifth after an error on the Lancer hurler the Jays Jack Gerker pushed his squad into a 6-5 lead they would never relinquish with an RBI double off of reliever Chayse Overholt.
Nine St. Johns hitters brought bats to the plate in a fruitful sixth inning that saw four runners come back across the plate on their way to the dugout.
Austin Moenter led off the frame with a single and was moved around the bases on a pair of errors including a dropped fly ball in the outfield. Singles by Braylon Metzger and Cam Elwer aided the run support along the way that saw an RBI from TJ Werts as a 9-5 lead reached the scoreboard.
Trailing 10-5 heading into their final at bat after a pair of wild pitches, an error and an RBI double by Elwer the Lancers looked to keep their season alive.
Dane Ebel led off with a single and was brought home on a blast over the left field wall by Austin Bockrath that cut the deficit to 10-7 and spelled the end for Moenter on the mound.
Lincolnview’s Jack Dunlap and Caden Hanf were awarded free trips down the baseline on a walk and a hit by pitch that forced DSJ head coach Jerry Jackson to hand the ball to Cam Elwer with no outs.
Elwer’s walk of Evan Miller loaded the bases and a single by Brandon Renner pulled his team within 10-8 but a pop out to short and a lineout to Elwer and a quick thinking throw to third base brought the game to a halt to claim victory for St. Johns.
“Tonight was a game of response. DSJ scored first and we responded. This happened a few times throughout the game. We tip our hat to a good DSJ squad” stated Lincolnview’s Fishpaw.
Lincolnview sees their season come to an end at 18-10. The Lancers dropped a pair of games to St. Johns and finished 0-6 against teams from the Midwest Conference.
Delphos St. Johns (17-7) will head back to Hamler on Friday at 5pm to take on the Leipsic Vikings for the Hamler district championship. The Vikings were victorious in comeback fashion in the early game 4-3 over Ayersville.
| Teams | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DSJ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 12 | 1 |
| Lincolnview | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 9 |
WP: Austin Moenter (3-1): 3.2 IP/8H/4R/4ER/0BB/0K
LP: Luke Bollenbacher (6-2): 4IP/5H/5R/0ER/7K/1BB