Maloney wins pitchers' duel against Lochotski

HURON — Paul Maloney and Isaac Lochotski were in control on the mound Wednesday, allowing just five total hits. In the end, Maloney and Huron edged Lochotski and Margaretta 2-1 in eight innings of Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division action, completing a season sweep of the Polar Bears. It was a much-needed win for Huron, which took the field with four losses in its last six games despite big expectations this season. "We've been on a little bit of a slide, so to find a way to win is big," Huron coach Dan Lindsley said. "We put the bat on the ball for the most part, but we couldn't get hits and that's a credit to their pitcher. You don't want to say ugly win, but ugly win." Huron improved to 11-7 overall and 5-2 in the SBC Bay Division. The Tigers' fate in the Bay will be sealed when they play frontrunners Vermilion and Edison early next week. Maloney went 2-0 this season against Margaretta, throwing 15 innings and allowing just one earned run and six hits. "My goal was to get in front of them in counts," Maloney said. "Last time I pitched against them I fell into a lot of 1-0, 2-0 counts. I knew if I got ahead it would help me a lot, and my defense did a great job." Maloney got six outs on first-pitch swings and threw just 97 pitches in eight innings. "The biggest key for him was getting ahead on counts," Lindsley said. "Lochotski did a good job of that, too. We were cruising along there. Not a lot of walks, lot of ground balls, lot of popups." Maloney walked to lead off the bottom of the first. He scored the game's first run thanks to three Margaretta errors. The Huron senior threw five no-hit innings before Margaretta leadoff hitter Bren Smith lined a single to right field in the sixth. The Polar Bears (5-14, 2-6) left a runner on third in the inning before tying the game in the seventh. Gavin Berg reached on Maloney's throwing error and scored on Carter Kelley's two-out single. The Bears left six runners on base in the last three innings. "We had multiple chances to get a hit with runners on base," Margaretta coach Ray Neill said. "Carter Kelley got us one big one. We had some other chances. With runners on base and two out we're not getting it done." Huron scratched out a run in the eighth to win it. Maloney drew a four-pitch walk with one out before Sam Cox did the same thing. Landon Hohler was intentionally walked before a Lochotski strikeout brought Caden Peterman to the plate with the bases loaded and two out. Peterman hit a ground ball in the hole between third and shortstop and Maloney scored on the infield hit. "I saw it on the ground. I was running in looking at the ball, which I shouldn't do," Maloney said. "I saw it get through and I was happy I didn't have to go out there for the ninth inning." Peterman's hit was just Huron's second of the game. Ben Davis had a bloop single in the fourth inning. "I was just looking to put the ball in play," Peterman said. "I was gonna make their defense work; just try to make anything happen. It was a slow roller but it found the gap and I ran it out." Maloney finished with four strikeouts and walked just one. Lochotski struck out seven and walked five, throwing 107 pitches. "First thing I said to the group after the game was it was the best game Isaac has pitched in his career," Neill said. "Hopefully he grows off that and gives us some more innings like he did today." Margaretta hosts Western Reserve on Thursday and visits Northwood on Friday. "We'll keep battling," Neill said. "We're playing better baseball than we did at the beginning of the year. We need to keep getting better and be excited about the tournament that's out there in a couple weeks." Huron has five games scheduled in the next seven days, starting with Thursday's home game against Perkins. "We're gonna have days like this," Maloney said. "It wasn't pretty but we got the job done and that's all that matters." Margaretta 000 000 10 — 1 3 5Huron 100 000 01 — 2 2 4 WP: Maloney. LP: Lochotski