COLUMBUS GROVE – Friday night Kalida claimed their record setting 22nd all-time Putnam County League championship trophy as they defeated host Columbus Grove 4-2.
Wildcat hurler Carson Klausing kept the Bulldog hitters off balance throughout the contest with 11 strikeouts and allowed just six hits on his way to the his seventh win of the season. Klausing, a senior walked two and surrendered just a pair of runs on the way to a complete game.
“Carson threw an amazing game tonight just like he has all year for us. In my mind he’s far and away the PCL Player of the Year and tonight just confirmed it. Grove is a really good team and for him to come up big and throw that well in the biggest game of the year says a lot about him” opined Kalida head coach Chad Ehrnsberger.
Kalida opened the scoring in the top of the first inning against Columbus Grove starter Shep Halker to take a 1-0 advantage on a ground ball by Jaden Smith that brought in teammate Bubba Smith from third and also resulted in a 6-4-3 double play.
Singles by Michael Horstman and Bubba Smith and an error on Grove allowed a run and the table to be set for for Kalida to take a 3-0 lead in the top of inning three on an RBI single by Jaden Smith.
Columbus Grove reached the scoreboard and found themselves down just a run at 3-2 in the bottom of the same frame as a pair of singles by Brock Hoffman and Bo Birnesser and a double by Shep Halker trimmed the deficit to just one.
Doing damage with two quick outs in the fourth, the Wildcats notched the final tally of the night on a Jacob Siebeneck single, two walks to Dyllan Bendele, and Michael Horstman, and an RBI single by Bubba Smith to make it a 4-2 game.
Klausing, now working with a two run lead on the mound struck out the side on just 11 pitches in the bottom of the fourth inning and proceeded to allow just three base runners through his final three innings of work.
Both squads threatened in their final at bats but were unsuccessful in their chances with the bats. Grove catcher Landen Schroeder ripped a two out double off the left field wall in the seventh but was left on base as a sharply hit ball from Brock Hoffman found a line directly to Jacob Siebeneck in right field to end the night.
“Kalida played like they had been in that situation before and we didn’t. They were mentally tougher than us and it showed. Carson Klausing was really good tonight and we weren’t good enough offensively” said Columbus Grove boss Brayden Sautter.
Next up for the Bulldogs (18-7, 6-1) is a Monday afternoon trip to Lima to battle Shawnee in a non-league tilt before hosting the winner of USV and Vanlue on May 18th to kick off tournament play.
Kalida (18-5, 7-0) wins their fourth PCL title in the last six seasons played and will host Lincolnview on Monday before opening their postseason run against either Ayersville or Ottoville on May 18th.
“This was a great win for our guys. Every one of our kids before the season had PCL champions as one of their goals this year. They’ve worked really hard all off-season and during the season to get to this point, they’ve earned this” finished Ehrnsberger on his squad being crowned league winners.
Wildcat sophomore Bubba Smith extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a single in the third inning and has now collected 27 hits in his last 52 at bats, an average of .519. Smith finished the evening with a pair of hits which marks his ninth multi-hit game of the season that has also seen him swipe 21 bases in the same span.
Shep Halker (5-1) took the loss for Columbus Grove as he finished with five innings of work giving up four runs on six hits with six strikeouts and three walks.