MILLER CITY – Caleb Niese tossed a 1-hit outing over seven innings while striking out 14 Kalida hitters to keep Miller City unbeaten in the Putnam County League on Tuesday night on the way to a 4-1 victory.
Kalida lead-off hitter Carson Klausing slapped the first pitch of the game into the outfield off of Niese but would find the rest of the day tough at the plate for he and his teammates who wouldn’t amass a second hit on the afternoon.
“Caleb Niese was outstanding for us, just the one unearned run late kept him from getting a shutout. He pitched himself into and out of trouble a few different times, he’s a tough kid mentally and I thought he got stronger as the game went on” said Miller City coach Dusty Pester.
After Klausing reached base on a wild pitch the Miller City lefty settled down to finish the frame with a pair of strikeouts and a ground out on his way to retiring six straight maroon and gold batters.
Miller City’s lone run of the first four innings came in their opening at bat when Austin Ruhe who had been hit by a Klausing pitch earlier in the inning was brought home to score with the bases loaded on a check swing bouncer to first from Caleb Warnimont to give the host Wildcats a 1-0 lead.
Though a pitchers duel was beginning to form between Niese and Klausing, the visitors loaded the bases in the third on a pair of walks and an error but were unable to cash in when Justin Siebeneck was eliminated 5-3 to end the inning and quell the threat.
The first hit for Miller City came in the bottom of the fourth inning with two outs on a soft liner to left just over the head of diving shortstop Jaden Smith by Thomas Weis a batter before a strikeout of teammate Dillon Peck brought the inning to a conclusion.
Two walks opened the bottom half of the fifth for Miller City and forced Kalida manager Chad Ehrnsberger to bring in Justin Siebeneck into the game from the bullpen.
Austin Ruhe provided the start of the fireworks for the blue and gold offense as he ripped a 2-2 offering from Siebeneck into the outfield that scored two before himself being knocked in before the final out to give his squad a 4-0 lead heading into the sixth.
Caleb Niese entered the top of the seventh inning just under 100 pitches and a streak of 10 straight batters retired before Michael Horstman who started the inning with a leadoff walk scored on an errant throw to third to cut the deficit to 4-1. Niese would end the contest moments later by snagging a bouncer from Braylon Smith and tossing to first baseman Owen Tobe for the final out.
“I’m proud of the way my guys battled today. We found a way against a good team when we were not having good at bats. We only had a couple of hits but Austin Ruhe’s double late was a game changer, credit to Klausing and Siebeneck for hitting corners and mixing their pitches to keep us off balance. Kalida has won or shared the PCL for what seems like the last 100 years, so getting that win today was big for our guys” said Pester.
Niese moves to 2-0 on the season for Miller City (5-2, 3-0) who will travel to Middle Point to battle Lincolnview in a non-league tilt. Carson Klausing falls to 1-1 on the year for Kalida (4-4, 2-1) who are next in action on Thursday when they welcome Arlington to Holy Name Ballpark for a non-conference clash.