By Drew Terhall

Dailyadvocate.com

DARKE COUNTY — Here are the scores and stats from the high school baseball games from May 6 – 8.

Ansonia 4 (9-11, 6-4) vs Bradford 6 (15-8, 6-3)

BRADFORD — The Railroaders started the week with a home conference win over the Tigers. Bradford coach Derrick Skinner said the team made some good contact throughout the game. With the tournament coming up, he wants to see the team compete against some good pitching.

“We hit the ball pretty well. We made good, hard contact which was good to see. That’s the purpose of this week, to see some good pitching,” Skinner said.

Ansonia got off to a slow start and made it a game in the later innings. Ansonia head coach Dustin Hecht said he wants to see his team get off to a faster start.

“We started out a little slower than I would like to see. Have been talking to the boys about coming out, we’ve been where we’re trying to get through the lineup and then we start to really click and start to put it together,” Hecht said. “We want to see them start doing that right off the bat. Tagging teams right off the bat.”

Bradford led 1-0 after the first inning on a RBI single from senior Trey Schmelzer. They then scored four runs in the third inning. Senior Landon Wills and junior Owen Canan each had a RBI single. Senior Hudson Hill drove in two on a triple.

Ansonia scored a pair of runs in the top of the fourth. Junior Asher Shives and senior Trevor Hemmerich each drove in a run. Hecht said the team was hitting the ball straight to Bradford defenders at first, but was able to find gaps later in the game.

Canan drove in another run in the bottom of the fourth with a walk.

Ansonia made it close at the end. In the top of the seventh inning, senior Keegen Weiss drove in two runs on a double. But with one of their top guys on the mound, Bradford closed out the game.

Skinner said he used both Wills and senior Tucker Miller to prepare the team for the possibility of having to use one after the other in the tournament.

“I like the way we put the ball in play today. I would like to see us seal it quicker than putting guys on base late in the game. That’s why we went with our number one and number two back to back because we might need that in an upcoming tournament game,” Skinner said

Miller went 5.1 innings and had seven strikeouts. Wills had five strikeouts in 1.2 innings of work.

Ansonia rested their top two pitchers in this game and pitched sophomores Noah Heck and Cainan Robinson. Heck had two strikeouts in four innings.

Hecht said it was an opportunity to let the younger guys know it’s time to step up and get ready for not only the postseason, but for the future.

“We got to get those guys experience. They’re going to need it for next year to be able to lead the team. We’ve thrown our top two guys a lot. Giving them some rest today with the tournament right around the corner,” Hecht said.

Bradford then lost 9-3 to Versailles on May 7 at home. Miller and senior Garrett Trevino each had a RBI. Wills had 10 strikeouts in 5.2 innings pitched.

Ansonia defeated Troy Christian, 7-5, at home on May 8. Shives drove in a pair of runs. Robinson and freshman Lander Shives each had two strikeouts on the mound.

Ansonia will play their first tournament game on May 15 at Tri-County North at 5 p.m. Bradford will host Franklin Monroe to end the regular season on May 11 at 2 p.m. They will then play their first tournament game on May 15 against the winner of Riverside and Tri-Village.

A full game recap can be found on our website, dailyadvocate.com.

Franklin Monroe 11 (8-13, 3-6) vs Greenville 2 (10-14, 6-11)

GREENVILLE — Both teams entered this game coming off a 1-0 game. Franklin Monroe lost to Versailles, 1-0, on May 6 at home. Freshman Braden Gilbert had a hit and four pitchers took the mound for Franklin Monroe.

Greenville won 1-0 at Sidney on May 6. Freshman Isaac Kerg drove in the winning run in the sixth inning. Junior Braeden Wills pitched all seven innings and allowed two hits while striking out five batters.

Franklin Monroe came out as the aggressor and got guys on base the first two innings, but couldn’t get them to score.

In the third inning, the Jets started to put runs on the board. Gilbert hit a two-run single to get the scoring going. Two more runs came off a Greenville error.

Franklin Monroe scored three more runs in the fourth inning. Gilbert drove in another run while sophomore Madex Skidmore drove in another on a sacrifice flyout.

Franklin Monroe head coach Tyler Zimmerman said it was big for the team to come out and get the bats going after a close loss to Versailles.

“It was a very nice change of pace for us today. Base runners, hits, scoring runs has been a struggle all year. To get those base runners early, even though we didn’t get them in, we tried to focus on later in the game going through with runners in scoring position. The boys executed tonight. Very proud of the way we hit the ball tonight,” Zimmerman said.

Greenville was making the Franklin Monroe defense work all game long. They were able to put the ball in play, but couldn’t find the open space.

Greenville head coach Adam Eberwein said it was one of those days where the ball couldn’t find the gaps. The team also had to adjust to new positions on the fly as Kerg left the game early with an injury.

“Some days, you can’t get the ball to drop in a gap. It’s frustrating for the guys, it gets frustrating for the coaches,” Eberwein said. “We had an injury early on in the game that had to cause some guys to shuffle around. When you are doing that a little bit, it’s hard to find a groove.”

The Jets scored one run in the fifth inning and one run in the sixth inning off a RBI single by sophomore Brandt Filbrun to go up 9-0.

Greenville got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth inning. Juniors Adam Edwards and Drew Hamilton each drove in a run.

Franklin Monroe got those runs back in the seventh inning and closed out the game.

Junior Chase Stebbins pitched 5.2 innings and had six strikeouts. Junior Josh Armstrong finished out the game.

Zimmerman said both guys did great on the mound. When Stebbins starts a game for the Jets, they are 5-1.

“He did great. Once he got to his limit today, Josh came in and did exactly what we asked. Threw strikes and let the defense make the plays,” Zimmerman said.

Senior Bryce Blumenstock pitched 3.1 innings and had four strikeouts for Greenville. Blumenstock and seniors Quentin Garner and Trevor Mardin were honored prior the game on Senior night.

Eberwein said all three players have played for Greenville since they were seven years old and have worked hard each year.

All three come from great families and Eberwein is proud of each of them.

“Our seniors are good quality young men. They show up to school everyday, their grades are good. When I say quality young men, that’s what we’re trying to here with Greenville baseball,” Eberwein said. “Winning is good, we’re trying to teach these guys also how to be winners. But at the same time, we want to make sure we are instilling good qualities that these kids can take with them after baseball.”

Franklin Monroe then lost at Preble Shawnee on May 8, 3-2. Stebbins drove in both runs for the Jets. Filbrun pitched all six innings and had three strikeouts.

Franklin Monroe will be at Bradford on May 11 at 2 p.m. They will play their first playoff game on May 15 at Covington at 5 p.m.

Greenville will host Minster on May 11 at noon. They will then host Eaton on May 14 at 5 p.m. for their first tournament game.

A full game recap can be found on our website, dailyadvocate.com.

Around the county:

Arcanum (12-9, 8-2)

The Trojans lost a pair of non-conference games. They lost 2-0 to Fort Recovery. Sophomore Regan Christ had two hits in the game. Junior Seth Fearon pitched all seven innings and allowed four hits with three strikeouts. They then lost 5-2 at Anna on May 8. Sophomore Bryce Kramer had a RBI in the game. Freshman Lucas Miller had two strikeouts in four innings pitched. Freshman Bishop Cartwright had a strikeout in two innings pitched. Arcanum will host their first playoff game on May 15 at 5 p.m. against the winner of Archbishop Alter and National Trail.

Tri-Village (5-14, 1-9)

The Patriots lost a pair of close games early in the week. They lost 1-0 to Newton. Sophomore Jaiden Beam pitched the whole game and allowed three hits with two strikeouts. The team then lost 3-1 to New Bremen. Juniors Lane Bierly and Ayman Stephens each had two hits. Freshman Lucas Brown pitched all seven innings and had a strikeout. Tri-Village will be at Fort Recovery on May 11 at 11 a.m. They will then be at Riverside on May 13 for their first playoff game. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.

Versailles (22-4, 9-1)

The Tigers won three games early in the week and claimed their share of the MAC title. They won 1-0 at Franklin Monroe on May 6. Junior Ben Subler had a pair of hits in the game. Junior Ross Francis had eight strikeouts in four innings pitched. Subler had three strikeouts in three innings pitched. They then won 9-3 at Bradford. Senior AJ Griesdorn and junior Chase Monnin each had two RBI. Seniors Lane Bergman and Gabe White each had two strikeouts on the mound. Versailles then resumed their game at Fort Recovery after it was paused due to weather last month. The 4-1 win gave the Tigers their share of the MAC title. Griesdorn, junior Jace Watren and senior Michael Osborne each had a RBI. Monnin had eight strikeouts in six innings pitched. The team will host Preble Shawnee on May 11 at noon. Versailles will host their first playoff game on May 15 at 5 p.m. against the winner of Northwestern and Milton-Union.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected].