Huron battery leads Tigers to 9-0 win

PORT CLINTON — In a day filled with rain delays and postponements across the region, Huron battled through the elements to defeat Port Clinton on the road, 9-0. The game was called in the top of the seventh. "When you look ahead to the next few days the weather looks horribly bad," Huron coach Dan Lindsley said. "We just wanted to get a game in." With a forecast predicting light showers throughout the matchup, both schools opted to push through the rain to get a key SBC Bay conference matchup in the books. "We had a busing issue so we couldn't leave until 3:55," Lindsley said. "We were trying to play early, but that did not work out very well." Once the game was underway, the Tigers (12-7, 6-2) had some mishaps early that highlighted the chaos of the afternoon. Starting pitcher Cody Mamere threw a couple errant pitches in the bottom of the first that led to Port Clinton's Anthony Aukerman stealing second and third. "It was mostly the rushing," Mamere said. "I didn't get the best of warmups." With Aukerman in scoring position, Mamere gathered himself and struck out Garrett Cornell, his first strikeout of nine. "I just had to focus more and find my grip," Mamere said. Once their pitcher found his groove, it didn't take long for the Tigers' bats to follow suit. In the top of the third Nathan Zeigler drove in Kyle Auger from second base to take the lead. Next in the order was Tommy Ray, who played copycat with an RBI single of his own, sending Joey Schade home from second to claim a 2-0 lead. "We started a little sluggish but I was happy how we were hitting as we got going," Lindsley said. The rain, which began as a light sprinkle, began to increase as the Huron offense picked up speed. After two Mamere strikeouts in the bottom of the third and a flyout, the offense went back to work. Mamere drove in Kaden Staley then stole second and third. Auger sent him home on a fielder's choice and Huron led 4-0. By the top of the fifth, the rain had reached its peak just in time for the Tigers to reach theirs. On the first pitch Zeigler saw leading off the inning, he sent a bomb into deep left field for a solo HR, the fifth run of the day. "He's a really solid hitter," Lindsley said. "Today I thought he was locked in." The junior catcher ended his day 3-for-3 with a single, double and the home run. Even though the initial offensive output was at the top of the order, Huron stayed on brand with hits and RBIs being distributed across the roster. "We like to induce action, we like to have guys in motion," Lindsley said. "We want it to be not just one guy but all nine guys." Adam Murray, the last batter in the order, stepped up later in the inning with a single bringing Ray home for a 6-0 lead. Murray also closed on the mound, tallying two strikeouts in the bottom of the sixth. Thomas Cozzens and Matthew Witherow both earned RBI in the sixth as the Tigers nearly reaching the run rule at 9-0. Port Clinton fell to 6-12, 1-6. "These past couple weeks everybody's been hitting through the lineup," Mamere said. "When some guys are struggling everybody's been picking them up." In recent SBC Bay victories over Edison and Margaretta, multiple batters contributed to the scoreboard, and Thursday's matchup was more of the same. "For us, we just needed to keep going in the conference and not drop one," Lindsley said. "Everybody is going with an aggressive approach," Mamere said. "We hope to take that into the next couple weeks and the playoffs and see where it goes from there." Huron 002 232 — 9 9 0Port Clinton 000 000 — 0 5 4 WP: Cody Mamere LP: Isaac Miller 2B (H) Nathan Zeigler. HR: (H) Zeigler