North Union’s Tyler Krebehenne stands at the plate waiting on a pitch. Krebehenne helped NU defeat Urbana.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Bob Putman)
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The road to a victory had a couple of twisted turns, but North Union navigated its way through those turns for a 5-4 baseball win over Urbana.
It was a divisional crossover game in the Central Buckeye Conference.
NU is in the Mad River Division, which consists of smaller schools, and Urbana is in the larger-schools Kenton Trail Division.
“Any win within our conference is big,” North Union head coach Nick Blakeley said. “But a win over a big school is a real plus.”
The Wildcats are now 8-5 overall and 4-5 in the CBC, while the Hillclimbers are 7-8 and 3-7.
Urbana was able to take the early lead, scoring a run in the top of the third inning.
NU, though, answered right back in the bottom of the inning.
Tyler Krebehenne opened the frame with a double. With one out, he crossed the plate on a single by Landon Converse.
Urbana was able to get a second out, but the Wildcats were not done with their production.
Mason Price stroked a double to score Converse, while Ashton Haubiel bounced a single through the infield to plate Price.
“We had timely hitting in that inning,” Blakeley said.
Urbana cut the lead to 3-2 with a run in the sixth.
The Wildcats scored two more very important runs in the bottom of the inning.
They got the job done after the first two batters were retired.
Connor Lassister coaxed a walk and went to third on Krebehenne’s second double of the game.
Caden Potts then sent a grounder that bounced off the first baseman’s glove and into right field, scoring Lassiter and Krebehenne.
The Hillclimbers had some two-out action of their own in the top of the seventh.
Drew Schmidt, who had given up just three hits through the first six innings, hit a batter and then gave up back-to-back singles to load the bases.
A throwing error sent two runs across the plate.
Schmidt, though, got the final out on a pop fly to Haubiel to end the game.
“Drew was able to buckle down when it was needed,” Blakeley said.
U 001 001 2-4 4 1
NU 003 002 x-5 9 4
WP: Schmidt
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Lady Cats fall
Kenton Ridge did most of its damage in the first three innings on its way to a 9-0 win over North Union in Central Buckeye Conference softball action.
Kenton Ridge (11-1 CBC, 16-2 overall) scored three runs in each of the first two innings and one more run in the third inning.
The Lady Cats (5-6, 9-9) totaled just two hits on singles by Kailin McElroy and Sierra Farrington.
KR 331 000 2-9 14 1
NU 000 000 0-0 2 0
WP: Tyson
LP: DeCamp