SMCC's split hurts chances in River

SANDUSKY — St. Mary Central Catholic won one and lost one on Senior Night, shrinking the Panthers' margin for error in the Sandusky Bay Conference River Division baseball race. SMCC finished a suspended game with a 12-7 win against Woodmore in 12 innings on Monday at Dorn Park before dropping a 7-5 decision. The Panthers are 12-5 overall and 9-2 in the River heading into Tuesday's game at Hopewell-Loudon. "Our guys are gonna continue to fight until someone tells us it's literally impossible," SMCC coach Ryan Myers said. "We have a group of guys who aren't going to give up on each other and we're continue to play good ball." The Panthers are two games behind Calvert in the loss column in the River, but the Senecas are trailing in a suspended game with Hopewell and still have to make up a game against SMCC. SMCC started Monday on a positive note by scoring five runs in the top of the 12th — Woodmore was the home team in the game that was suspended April 30 by darkness — to win going away. Toby Gibson got five outs on the mound before Cayden Wikel relieved and got the final out. Blake Finneran singled, stole second and scored on a Sam Lawrence double to give the Panthers the lead for good. Woodmore pitchers hit two batters and walked three in the big inning. Between games, SMCC's four seniors — Finneran, Lawrence, Grant Swain and Donovan Shafrath — were honored. "Our four seniors have seen us make tremendous changes to the program over the years," Myers said. "We're sitting here and competing for a conference title, and from when they were freshmen, teams respect us now." When action resumed with the regularly scheduled game, the Panthers were ready. SMCC scored four runs in the bottom of the first to take a 4-1 lead against Woodmore ace Keil Almroth. Finneran led off with a walk and Wikel reached on an error as Finneran scored. Cullen Dillard followed with an infield hit and Wikel scored when Dillard stole second. Swain was hit by a pitch — he was plunked in the first game and was bleeding after the ball deflected off his helmet and struck his nose — before runs scored on an Adam Burch groundout and Leo Will's infield hit. Almroth dominated the last six innings, though, finishing with 11 strikeouts and surpassing the 125-pitch limit on the final batter he faced. "The kid never gives up," Woodmore coach Mason Beachler said. "Didn't have plus stuff to start the game, defense was a little shaky, but he kept us in the game. He wants the ball, especially in big moments." Woodmore (13-9, 9-4) got to SMCC starter Gibson in the third inning. The Wildcats sent 11 batters to the plate and scored five runs in the frame off the big left-hander. They totaled six hits, including a double to deep left-center by Blane Overmyer. Michael Seeger, who finished with three hits in the game, delivered one of Woodmore's five singles in the inning. "Pitch selection was a key thing for us, swinging at better pitches and getting ahead in counts," Beachler said. "We got pitches we could hit and we handled them." Almroth totaled 86 pitches through four innings, but threw just nine in the fifth and 12 in the sixth. "The results of us getting off to an early lead isn't good when we tend to sit on that lead for the next five innings," Myers said. "You want to see the guys carry the momentum and extend the lead a little further. We can't do that (not score), especially going into the tournament when we're playing good teams." The Panthers' Wikel and Dillard drew two-out walks in the seventh, but Almroth finished the game with a strikeout. "We did a good job of getting to him early, but he did a good job fighting back and establishing his stuff later in the game," Myers said. "We gave him a few too many strikes by not being selective enough." SMCC has three more River games scheduled this week (not including a possible makeup against Calvert). After Tuesday's trip to Hopewell-Loudon, the Panthers play at Fremont St. Joseph on Thursday before hosting Danbury on Friday. Game 1 SMCC 110 001 004 005 — 12 12 5 Woodmore 011 010 004 000 — 7 10 3 WP: Gibson. LP: Donley. 2B: (SMCC) Wikel, Lawrence; (W) Seeger, Donley Game 2 Woodmore 105 100 0 — 7 11 4 SMCC 410 000 0 — 5 3 6 WP: Almroth. LP: Gibson. 2B: (W) Overmyer, Lipstraw, Seeger