Edison's Simon strikes out 13 Tigers in 3-2 Bay victory

MILAN TWP. — Edison gave the baseball to Thomas Simon in its SBC Bay Division opener against Huron, and the junior left-hander showed why he's one of the top pitchers in the area. Simon threw a one-hitter, striking out 13 Tigers with a fastball-curveball mix, and walked only two to lead the Chargers to a 3-2 victory Monday. "I was able to throw strikes and hit the zone consistently," said Simon, who threw 97 pitches. "The defense made the plays when it was hit to them and defense wins games." It was the Bay opener for both teams, and with only 10 Sandusky Bay Conference games the Chargers were pleased to grab a quick lead in the standings over the talented Tigers. "This is huge," Simon said. "We knew Huron would be good. Their pitcher threw a great game. This is so much of a confidence-builder because we know we can compete with anybody." Huron lefty Joey Schade also threw a complete game, striking out seven and walking just one in a well-played game that breezed by in 1 hour, 21 minutes. "We only have 10 of these games with the size of our division, so saying every one counts might be an understatement," Edison coach Sean Hoover said. "It was definitely a big one to get. We thought coming in they might be the team with the most depth." Both teams were missing players due to spring break, but the Chargers made enough plays to improve to 3-2, 1-0. "It hurts not having three of our top players, that's for sure," Huron coach Dan Lindsley said. "We had some guys who had not seen varsity pitching and we had to put them in the lineup. That's spring break. No excuses, though. Our kids battled, but sometimes the small things don't go your way." Edison struck first in the bottom of the third. Bryce Michaelis led off with a single before Simon grounded into a fielder's choice. After Simon stole second, Luke Bissell cracked a double to left to put the Chargers on the board. Huron (4-3, 0-1) tied it with a run in the fourth. Cody Mamere led off with a walk and stole second. With one out, he scored on Schade's soft roller to first. Edison got the runs it needed in the fifth. Xander Danner got things going by beating out an infield hit. The speedy Danner was running on a grounder to short, so instead of getting caught up in a force out or potential double play, he stood on second with one out. Danner went to third on a passed ball and with one out and Simon at the plate, Huron brought in its infield. Simon responded by bouncing an infield single over Schade to score Danner with the go-ahead run. Simon stole second and scored on the game's only error to give the Chargers a 3-1 lead. "They brought their infield in and I was just trying to do my job and put the ball in play," Simon said. "It happened to find a hole. I was glad I got that run home." So was Hoover, who saw his team bounce back from a lopsided doubleheader loss to Tiffin Columbian on Saturday. "They had the infield in and Thomas got a couple-hopper through the middle of the infield to score us a run," Hoover said. "To get those two runs in the fifth inning was big. We executed very well. We got the lead and were able to extend it a little bit. With Thomas throwing and six outs to go we felt good." Huron got within a run in the sixth. Thomas Cozzens, hitting in the 9-hole, led off the inning by taking a fastball to the left-center gap for a double. It was the Tigers' only base hit. Cozzens, who was promoted from the JV this week, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch. "We knew he could hit," Lindsley said. "We said go have fun with it; you're here for a reason. He got the fastball and hit it in the gap. That was cool to see with guys missing. "We've said from Day 1 we've got a lot of kids that can play. The younger guys will get a chance this week." Simon retired the Tigers in order in the top of the seventh, getting a couple swinging strikeouts and a fly ball to left fielder Noah Smith to end it. "I was getting pretty tired toward the end, but Coach Hoover had faith in me and I had faith in myself," Simon said. "He knew I could get it done and I did." The two Bay frontrunners will meet again in Huron on April 21. "We knew we were going to get him. He did a great job," Lindsley said about Simon. "At times we hit the ball well but couldn't piece it together. Schade did a great job of keeping us in the ballgame. "Not the way to start the conference but maybe that'll kick us in gear. I said we had to score four runs. I guess I might've been right on one thing." Huron 000 101 0 — 2 1 1Edison 001 020 x — 3 5 0 WP: Thomas Simon. LP: Joey Schade 2B: (H) Thomas Cozzens; (E) Luke Bissell