Six no-hit innings from Dennings lift Bellevue

CASTALIA — Drew Dennings didn't really realize it. The junior was on a roll, getting through six no-hit innings as Bellevue was in control. With his pitch count rising and the strain of catching almost daily, coach Andy Dennings went to Ike Brown in relief. Margaretta threatened and had the winning run on base, but Brown induced a groundout back to himself to seal the Redmen's 4-2 non-league win Saturday at Lions Park. "I wasn't too worried about the no-hitter because I know the win is the bigger part of it," Drew Dennings said. "As long as we're getting outs and winning games, I don't really care what I'm throwing." Dennings walked five and struck out two. He finished with 82 pitches for Bellevue (12-5). "I thought he was around the zone a lot today," coach Dennings said. "In the first inning, the pitch count was up a little bit, but I thought he really settled in with some quick innings there. When you put it around the zone and make people swing the bat a little bit, you get ahead in the count and that helps you." The Polar Bears (7-16) made a run at it in the bottom of the seventh. Carter Kelley opened the frame by tallying Margaretta's first hit of the day, a ricochet off of Brown's glove. Brown then got back-to-back strikeouts. Jaxon Shearn drew a walk before Zach Gray roped a run-scoring single to bring in Kelley. Brown then hit Bren Smith to load the bases. Emmett Leibengood followed with a bases-loaded walk to bring Margaretta within 4-2. With the bases full, Brown got Mason Kromer to bounce into a grounder and the throw to first gave Bellevue the tough win. "This game was somewhat a microcosm of our season where we give things away and then we're playing from behind," Margaretta coach Ray Neill said. "It takes the little game away from us. We can't bunt. We have to limit our steals. For maybe the whole game, I thought we squared the ball up maybe better than they did. We hit some balls at some people." The Redmen again scored runs without the big hit, much like they did in Friday's Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division win over Norwalk. In the first inning, Dennings walked before Brown reached on an infield single. Sam Bollinger reached on an error, which allowed Dennings to score. Caden Lindsey walked to load the bases and a sacrifice fly by Logan Damron made it 2-0. Tatum Gore walked to re-load the bases and Bollinger scored when Sam Doster drew a walk. Gray bounced back to get a strikeout to end the threat, but the Redmen were up 3-0. "They made defensive plays," said Neill of the Redmen. "They rolled up a double play. Their first baseman (Damron) made a couple nice plays. They were doing some good things defensively. If you're a championship team in the SBC Lake, you are that kind of team." In the second inning, Tyson Baptista walked, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored when Brown reached safely on a fielder's choice throwing error. Bellevue finished with four hits, one day after just one hit in a 2-1 win over Norwalk. "I think both pitchers took a little bit to adjust in the first inning to the zone," coach Dennings said. "We were able to get a couple on (Gray) early. We're kind of a gritty team. We're continuing to battle. We're waiting for the dam to burst. I think we're getting there. We're having better at-bats." After Gray labored through 65 pitches in the first two innings, Brayden Windau threw five scoreless innings for Margaretta. He tallied five strikeouts while giving up just two hits. "Our lack of mental toughness seems to show when we make a mistake or when we walk a guy," Neill said. "Instead of making a play behind our pitcher, we make an error. If we make an error, it seems like the next batter, our pitcher will walk. What a good team does is they make up for that walk or that error. Right now, we're not that team." Bellevue faces Willard on Monday before a chance to clinch a share of the SBC Lake Division title Tuesday at Clyde. The Redmen got up for the early first pitch and pushed through, something coach Dennings said felt like a travel ball day. "We expected this to be pretty tough," he said. "The guys they threw were very quality guys. That was a really good look for us." Bellevue 310 000 0 — 4 4 2Margaretta 000 000 2 — 2 2 4 WP: Dennings. LP: Gray