Adelman's slugging, Gfell's sidewinding lead Norwalk past Huron

PERKINS TWP. — A couple of days ago, Nate Adelman might have missed a hanging curveball. But after a drop to fifth in Norwalk's batting order and two doubles Monday, there'd be no missing a hanger Tuesday. "He's always had a live bat," Norwalk coach Wes Douglas said. "... He's had a couple good days, so maybe it's taking a little pressure off him." Adelman launched a curveball beyond the left field fence at Sports Force Parks in the top of the third inning for his first home run of the season. The homer broke it open for Norwalk (11-7), leading the Truckers to a 9-3 win over Huron (11-6). Adelman had a huge day for Norwalk, finishing 3-for-3 with the home run, a triple, four RBI and two diving plays in the field. Coupled with a strong pitching performance from sidewinding Thomas Gfell, Norwalk has its first three-game win streak since early April. "It's just another day at the ballpark," Douglas said. "Beautiful day, beautiful place to play. If you couldn't enjoy it today, you're in the wrong sport." The Truckers struck right away. Eli Obringer was hit by a pitch with two outs in the first, and Ian Minor followed that with a double to left-center to score a run. Adelman lined a 3-1 pitch into left to plate Minor, giving Gfell a 2-0 lead to work with. Gfell used to pitch with a three-quarters motion, but when the 2020 season was canceled he committed to getting lower. Out of the windup, Gfell steps diagonally toward the third base dugout with his lead foot before whipping his right arm back across his body, parallel to his belt. "I knew if I could try something different and it worked, I'd be decent," Gfell said. "I like it a lot." In 5 2/3 innings of work, Gfell allowed two hits and two runs. He only tallied three strikeouts, but his tailing fastball and tight curve kept Huron off balance. Coupled with solid defense, including a diving stop by Adelman at first, the Tigers rarely posed a threat to Gfell, a Wooster commit. "He did a great job keeping us off balance," Huron coach Dan Lindsley said. "And obviously yeah, that's something you don't see every day… We've got some younger guys who've never seen that before." Gfell's outing meant that when the Truckers broke it open, there was no looking back. Adelman felt he'd refound his swing Monday with his pair of two-baggers at Perkins, and he came into Tuesday's game in good spirits, helped by his pregame six-inch chicken teriyaki Subway meal. On the other side, Huron didn't use its top pitchers in Tuesday's SBC crossover game with the Tigers facing an important league contest Wednesday at Oak Harbor. "Sometimes you've gotta play a game where pitching and the cards just aren't in your favor," Lindsley said. Norwalk's hitters kept their weight back long enough on enough occasions against Huron's pitchers to pull away. It started with the Tiffin commit Adelman's home run, then continued in the fifth when Obringer and Minor strung hits together. Norwalk added two in the sixth despite no hits in the frame, and one more in the seventh after Adelman tripled and scored. "Definitely more confidence at the plate than before these two games," Adelman said. The big lead throughout meant Norwalk could pull Gfell mid-hitter after 74 pitches, keeping his availability open for Friday against Sandusky. Caleb Sommers finished the job for the Truckers, aided by a diving catch from Adelman, who moved to shortstop on the pitching change and battled wind to make the snag. After Norwalk won Monday, Douglas was looking forward to the opportunity to build a three-game winning streak. So even though Tuesday's game didn't count in the league standings, it meant something — a chance to keep things rolling ahead of Norwalk's second-to-last SBC Lake Division game. Thanks to Adelman, who raised his season OPS to 1.206, and Gfell, who lowered his season ERA to 2.28, Norwalk now has that three-game win streak. In three days, the Truckers will go for four. "We have all the momentum right now," Gfell said. "We've got it going right now. We've got to keep it going." Norwalk 203 012 1 — 9 8 5Huron 001 001 1 — 3 2 3WP: Thomas Gfell. LP: Aiden Kastor 2B: (N) Ian Minor. 3B: (N) Nate Adelman. HR: (N) Adelman