Thunder 17U falls to Piqua 19U

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TROY – The Greenville American Legion Post 140 Junior team made up of freshmen and sophomores earned a second place finish in the Annual Troy 17U July Fourth tournament.

An annual tournament designed for 17U American Legion and Select 17U teams, permitted Piqua 19U to enter their Senior Legion team including 18 and 19 year old players to compete in the weekend tournament allowing the lone 19U team to run the table in the opposite bracket, eventually defeating Greenville’s 17U team to take the championship trophy. No explanation has been given for allowing a team with high school seniors and college players entry into the tournament.

“Overall I would consider this weekend a success,” said Junior Thunder coach Austin Baumgardner. “We lost to a much more experienced Piqua team in the championship, but we battled every game, minimized mistakes, and really showed improvement in all aspects from previous games.”

Greenville Junior Legion defeated the Dayton Classics 4-2 in the Friday opening round with Joe Ruhenkamp tossing six innings for the win and Ben Ruhenkamp picking up the save with one inning of work.

Carson Bey and Jacob Treon had identical numbers at the plate going 2-3 including a double, a run scored and a RBI. Alex Baumgardner went 2-2 with a double and a run, Seth Delk was 1-2 with a RBI and Aiden Psczulkoski went 1-3, a double and a run scored.

J. Ruhenkamp pitched six innings allowing four hits and two earned runs. B. Ruhenkamp threw one inning striking out three and did not allow a run to earn the save.

Game No. 2 had Greenville Thunder 17U defeating Fairborn in a Friday night game 6-2 with Hayden Bush and Carson Bey splitting the duties on the mound.

At the plate, Bush was a perfect 3-3 with two triples and two RBIs. Bey went 2-3 with a double and two runs scored, Baumgardner was 1-2 including a double and a RBI, Treon was 1-2 with a run scored and two RBIs and AJ Shaffer went 1-2 with a RBI.

Bush tossed 3.2 innings giving up two hits, one earned run while striking out five. Bey pitched 3.1 innings, allowed four hits and an earned run in the win.

The Greenville boys defeated a good Columbus TNT 17U team 3-2 in Saturday play with Tyler McKinniss, Treon and B. Ruhenkamp combining for a two hitter.

Pacing the Thunder 17U at the plate had B. Ruhenkamp going 3-4 with a run, Treon going 2-3 with a double and two RBI and Bey 1-3 with two runs scored.

Game number four had the Greenville bats coming alive to put it to the Cincinnati Riverdawgs by an 11-1 score with B. Ruhenkamp going the distance on the mound to earn the win.

“Our pitching was outstanding this weekend,” noted Coach Baumgardner.”Going into Sunday we had given up less than two runs a game and that gave us some confidence.”

B. Ruhenkamp was 2-2 with a triple, two runs and four RBIs to pace the Thunder 17U attack. Alex Kolb went 3-3 at the plate with two runs scored, Treon was 2-4 with a double, one run and three RBIs, Baumgardner went 1-4 with two RBIs and Bey scored two runs.

After going 4-0 the Greenville team was faced with a crossover game vs. the opposite bracket which happened to be a Piqua team with a lineup card filled with 18 and 19 year old players.

The Piqua team pitched NCAA Division I Toledo University commit Jack Olberding against the younger Greenville squad on their way to an 8-0 win putting Greenville Thunder 17U against the same 19U Piqua team in the championship game.

The Greenville Thunder 17U showed a lot of class in dropping a 7-2 game to the only 19U team in the tournament – an invite that still goes unanswered.

“My freshman and sophomores played admirably, taking a 2-2 tie into the sixth against a lefty throwing in the high 80’s before the wheels came off,” said Greenville’s coach.

In the championship match, Isaac Mills was 1-3 with a double and Cayden Clark went 1-2 with a RBI. Treon pitched six innings surrendering three earned runs while striking out five Piqua 19U hitters.

“We really battled in the championship game,” Baumgardner said. “Treon gave us a great performance on the mound – they just got a few more hits to fall and made some good plays.”

The Greenville Junior Thunder 17U July 4th tournament team at Troy.
https://www.dailyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/web1_8-inch-Thunder-Jr-Piqua-July-5th-2020-Copy.jpegThe Greenville Junior Thunder 17U July 4th tournament team at Troy.
Greenville Junior Thunder loses Troy Championship to older Piqua Senior team.

By Gaylen Blosser

DarkeCountyMedia.com

Contact Darke County Media Sports Editor Gaylen Blosser at [email protected] or 937-548-3330

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