DAYTON – Spencerville pitcher Evan Osting etched his name in the school record books on Sunday night as he tossed a complete game no-hitter on the way to a 2-0 victory over Bradford.
Under the Day Air Credit Union Ballpark lights the sophomore shined bright on the diamond as he bounced back from four early walks to stop opposing hitters in their tracks while retiring 14 of the last 15 hitters he faced.
Bradford threatened twice in their opening pair of at bats thanks to the free passes but were unable to cash in for a run of any kind. In the second inning the Railroaders Landon Monnin reached on an error but found himself called for runners interference moments later.
Spencerville took a 1-0 lead in the bottom half of the second following a double to the outfield by Emerson Layman and an RBI single from catcher Sy Morris against Bradford starter Keaton Mead. “Sy was due, that hit was big for him, if he can get it turned on this week we’ll be ok” remarked Bearcat skipper Norm Koenig.
Mead traded in his spot on the mound for an eventual space behind home plate and was replaced for the third by Dalten Skinner who himself surrendered a run to Carter Layman on an RBI single from Emerson Layman that fell to the pitchers mound to the ground between three would be Bradford defenders.
Bradford’s hitters accounted for nine ground outs, a pair of fly outs and a strikeout against Osting in the final four innings and were allowed just one runner, Landon Wills who reached on an error to lead off the seventh to reach base.
Garrett Trevino, the final batter of the game rolled a pair of balls just across the chalk into foul territory before the final ball that wound in Osting’s glove for a soft toss to first to secure the no-hitter.
Osting finished the game with a seven inning performance that saw him throw just 87 pitches against 27 batters while walking four and striking out three.
“I just calmed down, I knew the strike zone was a little small but I had to pump it in there to get some strikes. I knew I had to work in and out, up and down and just get it in there” said Osting after the contest on his performance.”
Spencerville (5-13) move their winning streak to four straight games and will find themselves back in action on Monday at home when they host the St. Henry Redskins to kick off three games in five days.
Bearcat coach Norm Koenig remarked about his team “A couple weeks back if you look at our games we were losing by one to three runs but we’re ok now, we’re looking good. The atmosphere on this team is 100% different than the first couple of weeks, they just want to win.”
Bradford has now dropped four games in a row after their nine game winning streak in the middle of the season and sport a 10-9 record heading into a Monday evening trip to Arcanum.