Dashner's homer helps Clyde defeat Bellevue

CLYDE — Clyde needed something. Anything would be better than what the Fliers' offense had done in almost 15 full innings against Bellevue this season. No. 9 hitter Jackson Dashner was there with a game-tying, no-doubt solo home run to left field to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth inning Wednesday. It was his first at-bat of the day and came after he switched bats. "We knew we had a tough predicament and I had to do a job," Dashner said. "I haven't been hitting the greatest all year. I knew this was the last home game, so I had to make it count somehow." Clyde didn't stop there, loading the bases where Dawson Jeffrey was hit by a pitch to finish off a thrilling eight-inning 3-2 Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division win over the Redmen. The Fliers (7-14, 3-7 SBC Lake) were hitless over 14 1/3 innings against Bellevue pitchers Cooper Winke and Caden Lindsey before Dashner's gargantuan home run. "Any time you have a home run in high school baseball, it's surprising," Clyde coach Jake Strayer said. "I wasn't surprised to see him hit a ball hard. He had the best round of on-field batting practice that I think we've had from a kid this year." The loss eliminated the Redmen (12-7, 7-3) from league title contention. Perkins won the outright league championship with Bellevue's loss. "This one is going to hurt, there's no question about that," Bellevue coach Andy Dennings said. "We battled our rear ends off the entire back half of the season. It was back-against-the-wall games the entire time to give ourselves an opportunity. This is sure the heck not the way we wanted to get knocked out." After Clyde tied the game, Brayden Olson reached on a bunt single. He went to second on a balk to which Dennings intentionally walked Gavyn Boggs to create a potential force play. Lindsey induced a groundout before a walk to Blake Gerstenberger loaded the bases. Jeffrey was facing a 2-1 count when he took one off the top of his helmet to bring in Olson with the winning run. "Yesterday and today, we've had a different feel about us pregame," Strayer said. "In batting practice, they came in focused and ready to go. They came in itching to get this one. I didn't say anything. This was all them. They won this." Colt Flores was big on the mound for Clyde. Facing an unique situation where the game resumed in the middle of the sixth inning after thunderstorms Tuesday, he retired the first four batters he faced. Sam Bollinger drew an eighth-inning walk before Lindsey went full-extension to poke a single into right field. With Bollinger advancing to third on the single, he scored on a sacrifice fly by Reid Claus. The hit-and-run by Bellevue came as no surprise to Strayer, who played for Dennings in high school at Bellevue. "We knew what was going on with the hit-and-run," Strayer said. "You go back 10 years and that's how Andy won a sectional game against Perkins. The 3-hole hitter ahead of me had a hit-and-run on and he puts one in right-center field and scores. He likes to hit-and-run a lot." Lindsey came on to pitch when the game resumed over Blake Sutherland. Lindsey was a force before Dashner's blast. He struck out the side in the sixth and got the first two batters via the strikeout in the seventh. After walking Kam Shortridge, Lindsey picked him off, sending the game to the eighth inning. "We had confidence in both," said Dennings of the decision to pitch Lindsey over Sutherland. "We decided to go with Caden today. We felt like he was ready and he was. You don't see many home runs in high school baseball. To have the 9-hole jump on one and put it out of the park is not what you really expect there." The teams could get a rematch in the Division IV Willard District, but Clyde is the No. 7 seed and hits the road to face No. 2 Clear Fork in its tournament opener. No. 3 Bellevue will host No. 5 Vermilion to open the postseason. "We don't have many options now," Dennings said. "League is over. You have to dust yourself off and have to start working toward the tournament." Bellevue 000 010 01 — 2 8 2Clyde 010 000 02 — 3 2 1 WP: Flores. LP: Lindsey 2B: (B) Cooper. HR: (C) Dashner