By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

GREENVILLE — The Greenville American Legion Post 140 18u baseball team beat Springfield Armoloy 3-2 in extra innings. Aiden Psczulkoski was the hero of the game, scoring Logan Todd in the bottom of the eighth inning for the win.

The win seemed like good karma after Cason Bennett was called out on a close play at home plate in the bottom of the seventh. On his attempt to steal third, the ball passed the third baseman into left field.

Bennett raced to home and looked safe, but was called out and sent the game into extras.

The team was carried by Warren Hartzell for the first three innings. Hartzell pitched the first two innings and sat down four batters on strikes. He got himself out of a jam in the bottom of the second after loading the bases with nobody out.

Then in the bottom of the third, Hartzell hit a two-run home run to right field to take the 2-0 lead.

Head Coach Chad Henry said Hartzell hurt his elbow last year when pitching against his current team. During the offseason, Hartzell discovered he did sustain an injury while joining Greenville.

Henry said he has went through physical therapy with Wright State and has been throwing bullpen sessions to get his arm healthy. He also switched to hitting left handed after he couldn’t swing right handed anymore.

“There was a lot of emotion out there tonight. He could have ran through a brick wall when he came out of his innings. That was pretty awesome to see,” Henry said.

Greenville had four pitchers play against Springfield in the game. Henry said they had the idea of trying to keep as many arms healthy for their upcoming tournament this weeked.

As a team, Greenville struck out 17 batters. They made the most out of their limited outings.

“They were very efficient. They came out and attacked the zone,” Henry said.

The team will head to Lancaster, Ohio, for a tournament during the holiday weekend.

Contact Daily Advocate Sports Editor Drew Terhall at [email protected].