South beats North, Trail

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WEST ALEXANDRIA —Twin Valley South’s baseball team picked up a couple of close wins this week over Preble County and Cross County Conference rivals Tri-County North and National Trail.

After beating Trail, 3-1, in 8-innings on Monday, May 2, South then shut out North 2-0 on Tuesday.

Against North, Austin Roell threw 6 1/3 shutout innings for the win, allowing just five hits.

Travis Lovely came on in relief with runners on first and second with one out to record the save.

Chandler Proles pitched a complete game for TCN in the loss.

South opened the scoring with a run in the first and added its second run in the fourth.

For South, Jared Cottingim was 1-for-3, with a walk, a run, and a stolen base. Jacob Bassler 2-for-4 with an RBI. Cody Roell 3-for-3 and Travis Lovely 2-for-3.

Chad Ehler hits a sacrifice fly in the first inning to score Jared Cottingim. Jacob Bassler hit an RBI single in the fourth inning to score Ryan Johnson and take a 2-0 lead.

Cody Roell made a diving play up the middle from shortstop in the seventh inning to get the force out at second and the second out of the inning to keep North off the scoreboard.

“Austin pitched a very solid game for us and our defense did a great job of backing him up. North hit quite a few balls that were very hard that we were able to make plays on and overall it was a very solid performance by our defense,” South coach Cory Bassler said. “We limited our mistakes and didn’t beat ourselves. Offensively we were far from spectacular but once again, Chad and Jacob were able to step up and get timely RBI’s for us. In the 7th, Travis came into a very tough spot for us, with runners on first and second, one out, and North’s (number) two-hitter at the plate, and he brought us home.”

North could manage just five singles for the game from Chadler Sproles, Logan Elmore, Tanner Booth, Zach Edgin and Bailey Lairson.

At Trail, on Monday, South scored late to tie the game and eventually won in extra-innings.

National Trail scored one run in the second for a 1-0 lead. It wasn’t until the sixth before South tied the game and eventually scored twice in the eighth for the win.

Jacob Bassler pitched all eight innings for the win, giving up no earned runs. The lone Trail run scored on an error.

Michael Bane, from Trail, threw seven innings in the no-decision, while Billy Lanman pitched the eighth and took the loss.

At the plate, Ryan Bassler was 3-for-4 with a run. Jacob Bassler was 1-for-4 with two runs and go-ahead RBI in the eighth. Cody Roell was 2-for-3. Chad Ehler was 2-for-4 with the game-tying RBI in the sixth inning.

Chad Ehler RBI single in the 6th to score Jacob Bassler and tie the game. Ryan Bassler led off the eighth inning with a single, took second and third on wild pitches, then got plated by a Jacob Bassler single to take the lead.

“Aside from the one error we made in the second inning, we played fundamentally sound baseball and didn’t shoot ourselves in the foot. Bane did a great job of keeping our hitters out of rhythm but we hung in there and Chad delivered a timely hit for us,” coach Bassler said. “Also, Jacob did a great job of managing the game from the mound and giving our defense the best opportunities to make plays.”

With the wins, South improved to 10-9 overall and 6-6 in the CCC.

North (11-9) is scheduled to host Arcanum on Thursday and Eaton on Friday to close out the regular season.

By Eddie Mowen Jr.

[email protected]

Reach Eddie Mowen Jr. at 937-683-4056 or on Twitter @emowen_RH

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