Top of order leads charge as Edison handles Huron

HURON — Huron won the first five innings, but Edison dominated the final two to keep its Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division baseball title hopes intact. The Chargers trailed 1-0 before Chaz Smith's RBI double tied the game in the sixth inning. The Chargers added four runs in the seventh to turn away the Tigers 5-1 on Thursday. "I liked our composure," Edison coach Sean Hoover said. "We talk all year about the things you have to do to win close games and how these things in the season can help you win close games at tournament time." Edison won its eighth straight game and improved to 11-3 overall and 7-1 in the Bay. The Chargers — who can win their fifth straight Bay title with wins next week against Willard and Port Clinton — are tied atop the Bay with Margaretta. "It was a tight one today," Hoover said. "Huron played their butts off, but we were able to scratch it out at the end. If we take care of business next week we'll get our title no matter what else happens." Huron starting pitcher Grant Humphrey shut out Edison for five innings before running into control issues in the seventh. He walked two batters before Brody McFadden's bunt single loaded the bases with nobody out in a tie game. A walk to Evan Schnittker — the Chargers' No. 9 hitter — scored Ian Preston with what proved to be the game-winning run. "We got a couple guys on in the last inning and Brody laid down a great bunt," Hoover said. "We aren't really known for our bunting, so to get one down and get two guys in scoring position was big." Edison got to the top of the order and put away the game. Leadoff batter Bryson Wittmer, Cole Leimeister and Smith each had two hits, combining on a 6 for 11 day. Wittmer greeted Huron reliever Grant Periat with a blast to left field for his second double of the day, scoring Owen Price and McFadden to give Edison a 4-1 lead. "He hit a couple good line drives and hit one to center that was a line drive for an out," Edison said of Wittmer. "He came up big with guys on base. I said just sit back, find your pitch and drive one and that's what he did." Leimeister added an RBI double to score Schnittker. "We were sitting at 6-7-8 (in the batting order) going into the seventh inning and they were at the top of their order, so I knew we were gonna see their top guys," Hoover said. "I was hoping the guys at the bottom of our order could get it done and get it to the top. They were able to do that and the guys at the top came through." Humphrey threw six strong innings, striking out five and getting a 1-2-3 fifth to keep Huron ahead. "We may have kept him in one batter too long. He did a phenomenal job," Huron coach Dan Lindsley said. "We were in a great spot, tied at 1 (after six innings) with 6-7-8 in their lineup. Hump got a little tired. The coaches were talking, but after the two walks I said they're gonna be bunting so let's see if he can get out of the jam. Didn't work out." Edison starter Eli Hermes went the distance, striking out seven. He threw a no-hitter against Huron earlier this month, but the Tigers totaled seven hits in the rematch. Huron, though, stranded four runners in scoring position and had the bases loaded with one out in the third and didn't score. "Offensively, we did a pretty good job, but we couldn't come up with that clutch hit," Lindsley said. "That's really been the story of the year for us. When we come up with that we're a darn good team." Huron scored the first run allowed by Hermes all season with two out in the fifth. Landon Hohler tripled and scored on Periat's line-drive single to left. Hermes has now allowed one run in 26 innings. "He's a competitor," Hoover said. "He went out there in the seventh inning and he owned it; he wanted the ball. He wanted to be the guy on the mound. There was no doubt in his mind he was going to get the job done." Like Edison, Huron's 1-2-3 hitters combined for a 6-for-11 day. Austin Sas had two singles, Sam Cox had two singles and Hohler singled, doubled and was hit by a pitch. "I thought we hit Eli well," Lindsley said. "We didn't have a ton of strikeouts, but we couldn't come up with that big hit. Credit to Eli. He had to fight through that one a little more than the last time." Huron, which dropped to 10-7 overall and 5-3 in the Bay, saw its three-game winning streak end and will look ahead to tournament time. "We've got 14 guys who all want to be out there and it's not an easy decision every night who gets to play," Lindsley said. "We've gotta try to stay together and guys gotta take advantage of opportunities. We've gotta focus on where we want to be at tournament time. We've gotta try to get better every day. If we do that we can have a nice run." Edison 000 001 4 — 5 7 0 Huron 000 010 0 — 1 7 0 WP: Hermes. LP: Humphrey. 2B: (E) Wittmer 2, Smith. 3B: (H) Hohler