Gray's shutout leads Bears to 6th straight win

CASTALIA — Margaretta did what Margaretta does. The Polar Bears scratched out a pair of runs and fended off Huron 2-0 in a key early-season Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division baseball game Thursday at Lions Park. Junior left-hander Zach Gray fired a four-hit shutout to help the Polar Bears win their sixth straight game and improve to 7-2 overall and 4-0 in the division. "I felt great and had a great defense behind me," Gray said. "I was a little wild at the beginning. My curve ball at first, I couldn't get the grip right away. Then I found the grip and the curve and fastball were working pretty good." Gray struck out six and walked three — none in the last three innings when he faced the minimum nine batters. "Huge win for us. Well-played game," Margaretta coach Ray Neill said. "Well-pitched by Zach Gray, well-caught by Memphis McKenzie. (Gray) has a great feel for the game. He's sneaky quick; the ball kind of jumps out of his hand." Neill liked what he saw from his starter — on and off the field — on a warm, sunny day. "He's becoming a strike-thrower and a competitor. He wanted the ball," Neill said. "In the third or fourth inning he told me, 'Coach, I'm going all the way.' That's the new Zach Gray. That's not the Zach Gray as a puppy, as a freshman and a sophomore. He's a mature junior and is becoming a dog." Gray scored the game's first run after he a drew a leadoff walk against Huron starter Grant Humphrey, who scattered three hits and stranded four Bears in scoring position. Gray stole second base, advanced to third on Bren Smith's sacrifice bunt. He scored when Hunter Grahl smacked a ground ball past a pulled-in infield. "I love to be up 1-0 to go out to pitch," Gray said. "Hunter had a great hit. He's been amazing." Added Neill: "It's good to jump out ahead like we did in the first inning. Everybody did their job. There's a lot of confidence right now in our dugout and it's a fun place to be." Margaretta added to its lead in the fourth inning. McKenzie, leading off, was hit by a pitch. He stole second, advanced to third on Carter Kelley's sacrifice bunt and scored on Robbie LaCourse's sacrifice fly to right field. Huron, which has not scored in 16 innings, had a chance to create a three-way tie atop the Bay but couldn't cash in when it put runners in scoring position. Like the Bears, the Tigers stranded four runners on second or third base. Humphrey was the only Tiger to advance to third base after he walked in the third inning. "We're not playing good baseball or smart baseball," Huron coach Dan Lindsley said. "When you're in conference games against a well-coached, talented team like Margaretta, you gotta do things right. We had multiple opportunities with guys on but couldn't come up with a hit or execute a bunt. We aren't doing the baseball things we need to do to win. "This was a must win. Not that we're out of it, because we can still take care of business, but we've gotta learn to play baseball the right way." Landon Hohler had two of Huron's four base hits. The Tigers (5-4, 2-2) host Ashland on Friday before finishing the first round of Bay games at home Monday against Vermilion. Lindsley was happy with Humphrey's 85-pitch outing. The junior struck out four in six innings. "A leadoff walk and they were able to capitalize," Lindsley said. "I thought Hump did a good job and Zach (Gray) is a tremendous player. Those two play on the same travel ball team in the summer and they battled really well." Margaretta travels to Hopewell-Loudon on Friday and Ottawa Hills on Saturday before a Bay matchup at Willard on Monday. Thursday's game was played in perfect conditions after a brief, heavy rainfall rolled through the area in the afternoon. "I walked out of school at like 1," Gray said. "I saw the sky and didn't know if we were gonna play today. Then it didn't rain and it was amazing out. It missed us, luckily." Neill spent a couple hours working on the field, then wondered if his efforts were in vain. "I cut this infield grass and raked all these low spots," Neill said. "I went home to clean up and it poured in Sandusky. I got on the phone and called my athletic director (Drew Grahl) and he said it sprinkled for 90 seconds out here. The baseball gods were with the Polar Bears today." Huron 000 000 0 — 0 4 0 Margaretta 100 100 x — 2 3 1 WP: Gray. LP: Humphrey.