Carson Newell, right, of North Union slides safely into third base as Colt McCoy, right, of Triad attempts to stop the ball from sailing past him. Newell tallied two hits in the Wildcats’ 2-0 victory over the Cardinals.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
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With senior night in full swing for the North Union Wildcats, they did something that most high school ball clubs are not able to do.
NU fielded a fourth-year man at every position on the diamond. The fact that they also beat Triad 2-0 on Monday made it even more to celebrate.
North Union head coach Klarke Ransome was all smiles as his team has now won 16 games this season.
“It is extremely special to have a senior in every position,” he said. “That is almost unheard of. I would bet there aren’t many teams that can do that.
“This group of seniors deserves any and everything they get this year and to get a win on senior night with every senior in the lineup is pretty special.”
The low-scoring affair was due in large part to solid pitching from both teams.
Zach Ahern earned the shutout victory for the Wildcats, while depending on some solid fielding.
The Wildcats have been a solid defensive team all season, said Ransome.
“Ahern was tremendous,” he said. “He threw strikes, kept the ball down in the zone and our guys fielded it.
“Carson Newell had a great senior night,” said the coach. “He fielded everything that was hit to him, which was about every ball.”
Triad’s Batiti Lease, who tallied eight K’s on the bump, limited NU to only three hits.
Despite the loss, Triad coach Gary Davis was happy with his pitcher.
“Lease always demands his own when he takes the mound,” Davis said. “He gets ahead of batters and pretty much did that consistently except for one inning.
“He is solid on the mound everytime we put him out there and it was a good job.”
The two pitchers held batters to only eight hits tallied, but it was the third inning that made all the difference.
Lease got behind early in the count against Micah Orr.
Orr worked the count to ge a free pass to first.
Josh Cahill was plunked by a pitch to put runners at first and second.
Newell tallied one of the Wildcats’ hits to collect an RBI.
The Wildcats worked Cahill around with some contact hitting that put North Union up 2-0 after three innings.
Ransome said his team is willing to do whatever it takes to win.
“We’vegot a lot of guys who are willing to do whatever it takes to win,” he said.
We have guys who know the game really well, but they are willing to do whatever it takes to get the job down.”
The Cardinals struggled in the box after the Wildcats tallied two runs.
Jordan Simonelli got on first via a hit by a pitch, but that was about the only offense for Triad.
“We hit the ball right at them,” Davis said. “I think we ended up with five hits to their three, but we have got to hit in timely situations.
“We got guys on second and third and then hit a lazy pop up.”
The Wildcats now sport a 16-4 record while Triad has a 10-14 record for the season.
With the season coming to a close, the Cardinals will host Benjamin Logan on Wednesday as they prepare to host Mississinawa Valley in the first round of the postseason on May 13.
North Union is battling it out for first place in the Central Buckeye Conference as they prepare for Graham today.