FINDLAY – Liberty Benton pitchers Jarrett Haan and Seth Elchert teamed up on the mound Friday night to toss a combined no-hitter in an 11-2 win over visiting Kalida.
Haan kicked things off on the hill for Liberty Benton but found himself struggling early on with control in the slight drizzle as a trio of walks helped lead to his surrendering of a pair of runs in the top of the first frame.
“Jarrett had a little trouble with control in the first inning because of the rain, but he settled in and was able to locate his off-speed pitches for strikes” said Eagles head coach Matt Rader.
After his own offense produced a pair of runs against Kalida starter Jack Stechschulte to tie the game, Haan went back to work on the mound in the second and quickly retired all three hitters he faced. With the exception of a hit by pitch against Caden Looser in the third, Haan sat down the entire Wildcat lineup in order from the second through the fourth.
Jarrett Haan moves to 5-1 on the season on the back of a 4.2 inning performance on the mound that saw him finish with two runs allowed, four hits, four strikeouts, and a hit by pitch on 67 pitches.
Liberty Benton’s lineup entered play with a collective .315 batting average and improved on that mark in the third inning as they splashed two extra-base hits and a pair of singles into the outfield as part of a four run frame to take a 6-2 lead.
Following the fifth that saw Haan walk lead-off hitter Jaxon Hoffman, the Eagles turned to Seth Elchert who induced a ground out to end the threat.
While Elchert made his mark on the final two innings on the mound to close things out by allowing just a walk and hit by pitch, it was teammate Zach Elchert who provided the biggest pop of the night with his bat.
Leading 7-2 in the home half of the sixth with the bases loaded, Zach Elchert drove a first pitch offering from reliever Logan Kerner over the fence in left center for his second home run of the year, a grand slam to provide the final tallies of a five RBI game.
“We hit the ball really well tonight and found gaps all over in the outfield, that allowed us to be aggressive on the bases. When we are aggressive at the plate, we are at our best” remarked Rader on the win.
Kalida (5-12), reached base with a walk to Nathan Kahle in their last at bat but were unable to cut into the lead as Seth Elchert induced a ground ball to retire Bubba Smith for the final out and secure the combined no-hitter.
“Seth came in like he has done all season and pounded the zone. Our defense played great behind them and made a few really nice plays to help seal the no-hitter” said Rader.
Liberty Benton (18-3), ranked #4 in the state polls this week amassed 10 hits in the game while the Wildcats were tagged with five errors.
Next up for Kalida is a non-league tilt at Paulding on Monday while the Eagles play host to Elmwood the same evening.
Jack Stechschulte (3-2) tossed four innings and surrendered seven hits, six runs and a hit by pitch to go along with a walk and a pair of strikeouts for Kalida.
Line Score
Kalida 2-0-0-0-0-0-0 2 0 5
LB 2-0-4-0-0-5-x 11 10 1