South Wins Sectional

Twin Valley South struck early with a big 2nd inning where they scored 7 runs. Dayton Christian switched pitchers and brought in Sam Worley midway through the inning, but Wes Cole hit a monster triple off of him and cleared the bases.  However, Worley stopped TVS from scoring from the next inning on. But pitcher Jacob Bassler held Dayton Christian to three runs for South's first sectional win in years.

Dayton Christian actually scored first in the game, getting 2 runs in the home half of the first inning.  While South had left 2 runners stranded in their first at bat.  But South took advantage in the second inning and batted around. The Dayton Christian pitcher got a shaky start – hitting the first batter, then walking the next. Now South hitters had him figured out and the runs began to pile up.  The Dayton Christian coach had to go to Worley to stop the bleeding.

But after the second inning Worley got into a groove and held South scoreless.  Cody Roell got a hit off of him in the 6^th inning, but the other innings were all 3 up and 3 down for South.  So South’s defense needed to step up and keep the Warriors from scoring.  South’s defense was of the bend but do not break variety.  The Warriors were able to get on base, but for the most part South kept them off  the plate.

There were several great defensive plays during this stretch, but Wes Cole at shortstop had a notable play climbing a ladder to snag a screaming line drive that would have dropped for a base hit.  Jacob Bassler defended his position on another double play.  Catching a short hit in the air back to the mound and whipping the ball to first to catch the base runner off the base to complete the double play.  Great plays like this limited Dayton Christian to just 1 additional run in the 5^th as TVS would win 7-3 and get the sectional title.

“Getting that big lead early worked for us,” remarked Coach Bassler, “in the 1^st inning we could see that they were starting to figure our pitcher out.  But after they got behind and starting pressing to get a hit, then it worked better for us.  They got very aggressive at the plate and then his pitches started to work again.  Scoring those runs changed their outlook and what they had to do.“

“Our defense was great today,” he continued, “the way he pitches, they don’t always make solid contact. So that gives us a greater chance of making a play, and we can play defensively well enough.  Wes Cole made a great play when they roped a line drive right over him.  Offensively we did well in that big inning and when they brought Worley in both Cole and Gunther Lautensleger got RBI hits off of him.”

South next played for the district title against Cinncinati Summit Country Day.  South could not keep their momentum and fell 12-2.  Still it was a successful season for South and although they lose a deep senior class, they have a number of starters returning for next season.

Tri-County North’s baseball team lost their bid for a sectional title of their own losing to Versailles 3-0.  They had defeated the Tigers earlier this spring in a regular season game, but the Tigers turned the tables on them in the tournament. 

Spring time has been a successful time for South - switching to track, the South boys and girls teams both won district championships at Welcome Stadium this past Saturday.  The boys won by a whisker – beating second place Dixie by one point.  Good luck to the local athletes that will be competing at Troy in the South West Regionals!