Baseball

Zane Trace clinches title share
04/29/04

Zane Trace clinched at least a share of the Scioto Valley Conference baseball championship with a 13-3, five-inning win over visiting Southeastern Thursday evening.

The Pioneers (17-2, 11-0) lead Unioto and Westfall by three games with three conference games remaining.

In other makeup games Thursday evening, Unioto blanked Piketon 10-0 and Westfall blew a 13-0 lead only to win 14-13 over Paint Valley.

Zane Trace 13, Southeastern 3 (5 innings)

The hot-hitting Pioneers continue to punish opposing pitchers, unleashing a 15-hit attack on Southeastern, including Cam Wiley's sixth homer of the season -- a two-run shot in a seven-run fourth inning.

Freshman Justin Shiflett benefitted from the hit parade as he held the Panthers (6-9, 4-7) to four hits and two walks while striking out eight in his second win in three decisions.

Trey Baker and Jam George banged out three hits each for Zane Trace and Zach Roll, Cody Lawhorn and Shiflett added two hits apiece.

George, Shiflett and Roll drove in two runs apiece and Baker scored three runs and Lawhorn two. George and Roll each had a double.

Zach Hoylman doubled for Southeastern.

Zane Trace can claim an outright championship when the Pioneers host Westfall Friday.

                                                 R    H  E

Southeastern        0 0 0  1 2  --      3    4  4

Zane Trace             1 2 1  7  2  --  13  15  2

WP -- Justin Shiflett (2-1); LP -- Scott Stauffer

Unioto 10, Piketon 0 (5 innings)

Jeremy Brown and Will Harding combined on a two-hitter and Chris Trainer belted a two-run homer in a five-run first inning as Unioto bounced back from a 7-6 loss at Westfall Wednesday evening.

The two Sherman hurlers faced only 18 batters with Brown allowing one hit over the first three innings and Harding one hit in the last two frames.

Steve Pflug, Andy Russell, Corey White and Alex Smith all doubled for Unioto (12-5, 8-3) as Russell, White, Smith, Trainer and Koby Doughty all had two hits apiece. Smith drove in three runs.

Mays and Vickers singled for the Redstreaks' two hits.

                                                 R    H  E

Piketon           0 0 0  0 0  --   0    2  2

Unioto            5 3 0  2 x  --  10  14  0

WP -- Jeremy Brown (1-1); LP -- Osborne

Westfall 14, Paint Valley 13

The Mustangs led 13-0 after three innings, but Paint Valley paraded 10 runs across the plate in the fourth inning and two more in the fifth to draw within 13-12.

Westfall (10-5, 8-3) scored what proved to be the winning run in the bottom of the sixth to take a 14-12 lead. Wade Bartholomew was hit by a pitch to open the inning and went to third on a single by Joe Morris.

The Mustangs attempted to squeeze the run home, but the batter popped up to the pitcher, who then attempted to double Bartholomew off third base. However, the throw was mishandled by the third baseman, allowing Bartholomew to score the game-winner run.

Paint Valley (2-13, 2-8) took advantage of six walks and one error in the fourth as Drew Bobb singled and doubled in the inning. Bobb later hit a solo homerun in the top of the seventh to pull the Bearcats within a run.

However, Lee Fausnaugh -- who has figured prominently in seven of the Westfall's 10 wins -- retired the Bearcats without further damage. Fausnaugh has four wins and three saves in the Mustang's 10 victories.

Bobb drove in four runs with three hits and Ian Graham smacked a single and a double.

Jordan Egelhoff went 3-for-4 for the Mustangs -- leading off the second and third innings with homeruns. Nick Clark and Dustin Schooley had two hits apiece and Schooley and Drew Shaw doubled.

                                                                R    H  E

Paint Valley       0 0 0  10 2 0  1  --  13    8  6

Westfall             0 6 7     0 0 1  x  --  14  12  3

WP -- Joe Morris; LP -- Justin McGrath; Save -- Lee Fausnaugh (3).

Pioneers rip Paint Valley 18-6
04/28/04

Zane Trace hammered three homeruns in a nine-run first inning to rip Paint Valley 18-6 in five innings in Scioto Valley Conference baseball Wednesday evening.

The win -- coupled with Westfall's 7-6 win over Unioto -- leaves Unioto and Westfall tied for second place behind the Pioneers, three games off the pace. One more Pioneer win clinches at least a share of the league title for Zane Trace.

Huntington pounded Piketon pitching for 15 hits in a 13-3 win over the Redstreaks in six innings and Adena clubbed five doubles and a triple in a 13-4 win over Southeastern.

Zane Trace 18, Paint Valley 6 (5 innings)

Jam George and Cam Wiley belted back-to-back round trippers and Zach Roll followed with a three-run blast in the Pioneer first.

Roll hit a mammoth two-run blast over the left centerfield fence in the fourth to give him five runs batted in with three hits in the game.

Trey Baker had two hits and drove in three runs and Justin Shiflett and Zach Lawhorn had doubles. Shiflett finished with two hits as Zane Trace collected 15 hits for the game.

Paint Valley's Drew Bobb -- 7-for-7 against Zane Trace in two games -- was 3-for-3, including a two-run bomb in the fifth inning and a double. Josh Maynard added two doubles and Justin McGrath a two-bagger for the Bearcats (3-11, 3-7).

Jam George picked up his fourth win in as many decisions for the Pioneers (16-2, 10-0).

                                        R    H  E

Paint Valley   0 2 1  1 2  --    6    8  2

Zane Trace     9 0 4  5 x  -- 18  15  2

WP -- Jam George (4-0); LP -- Jamie Hughes

Westfall 7, Unioto 6

Westfall scored the winning run on two walks and a pair of errors after Unioto had retired the first two batters in the bottom of the seventh inning on strikeouts.

Bobby Horney walked on four pitches with two outs and moved upwhen the next batter was safe on an error. With runners at first and third, Dustin Schooley drew a walk to load the bases for Drew Shaw.

Shaw fell behind 0-2 before hitting a grounder that appeared to be the third out of the inning. However, a hurried throw after the ball was bobbled allowed Horney to score the winning run.

Freshman Nick Clark survived seven errors by the Mustangs to get the victory -- his second -- as he allowed no walks and scattered six Sherman hits.

One of the Westfall errors allowed Unioto to score three runs in the fifth inning to tie the game 6-6 on a single by freshman Andy Russell. The hit skipped through a Mustang outfielder, allowing Russell to score on a three-base error with two runners aboard.

Koby Doughty and Jason Depugh had doubles for Unioto (11-5, 7-3) and Joe Morris and Horney had two hits for the Mustangs (9-5, 7-3). Morris clubbed a double and a triple and Horney a double and a single.

                                                        R  H  E

Unioto             1 2 0  0 3 0  0  --  6  6  3

Westfall          4 2 0  0 0 0  1  --  7  9  7

WP -- Nick Clark (2-1); LP -- Jeremy Brown

Huntington 13, Piketon 3 (6 innings)

Aarron Hopkins belted four hits in five official trips to the plate, including three doubles, and drove in four runs as the Huntsmen reached the .500 level for the season.

One of Hopkins' doubles bounced off the top of the outfield fence and another appeared to clear the fence, but was ruled a ground-rule double.

The Huntsmen (8-8, 4-4) scored at least one run in each of the six innings as winner Cody Vinings and J. D. Cooper combined on a three-hitter.

Aaron Chaney, Drew Fultz, Isaac Weiderman, Josh Flannery and Zac Bowling all had two hits apiece for Huntington as Weiderman and Fultz smacked doubles and Flannery and Bowling drove in two runs each.

Osborne had a two-out, two-run single in the fourth inning for the Redstreaks (2-12, 2-7).

                                                       R    H  E

Piketon             0 0 1  2 0 0  --    3    3  1

Huntington      3 2 1  3 3 1  --  13  15  1

WP -- Cody Vinings; LP -- Mays

Adena 13, Southeastern 4

Adena scored the game's first run on Joe Jaskowiak's first inning triple and added three runs in the second, fourth, fifth and sixth innings.

John Knauff and L. C. Guthrie doubled in the second inning and Knauff, Jaskowiak and Dylon Givens all doubled in the fourth. Knauff went 3-for-3, scored three runs and drove in a pair and Givens and Jaskowiak had two hits each.

The Warriors' Adam Long, David Loel and Brian Grigsby scattered four Panther hits, including doubles by Chris Mavis and Shannon Kohn. A double by Mavis and two Adena errors led to three runs for Southeastern (6-8, 4-6) in the fourth inning to briefly tie the game.

Adena (2-14, 1-8) regained the lead for good with three runs in the bottom of the fourth.

                                                               R    H  E

Southeastern      0 0 1  3 0 0  0  --    4    4  6

Adena                   1 3 0  3 3 3  x  --  13  11  2

WP -- Adam Long; LP -- Shannon Kohn

Zane Trace wins again in SVC
04/27/04

Zane Trace took advantage of five walks, a hit-batsman and two errors in an eight-run inning to hammer Westfall 15-4 in five innings of Scioto Valley Conference baseball Tuesday evening.

The loss drops Westfall two games back of the league-leading Pioneers with five games remaining.

Huntington got two-hit pitching from southpaw Aaron Chaney in a 4-1 victory over Southeastern and Paint Valley kept Piketon winless 9-2 in makeup games.

Adena edged Circleville 8-7 in eight innings in non-conference action.

Zane Trace 15, Westfall 4 (5 innings)

Cody Lawhorn staked the Pioneers to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning with a bases-loaded, two-out triple, but Westfall answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning.

Zane Trace (14-3, 8-1) added a single run in the second before exploding in the third inning for eight runs. The Pioneers had only four hits in the inning -- one of them a two-run double by Zach Roll.

Cam Wiley recorded his sixth win in seven decisions -- allowing two earned runs on a diet of seven hits. He walked two and fanned six Mustangs, who were guilty of five errors.

Trey Baker, Jam George, Zach Lawhorn, Chris Davis and Cody Lawhorn all had two hits apiece in the Pioneers' 13-hit attack. Cody Lawhorn drove in five runs.

Drew Shaw and Lee Fausnaugh had two hits each with a double for Westfall (8-5, 6-3).

The two teams meet again Friday at Zane Trace.

                                         R    H  E

Zane Trace      3 1 8  0 3  --  15  13  2

Westfall           3 0 1  0 0  --    4     7  5

WP -- Cam Wiley (6-1); LP -- Jordan Egelhoff (1-1)

Huntington 4, Southeastern 1

Chaney struck out 14 Panthers to highlight his two-hitter, giving Southeastern 31 strikeouts in the Panthers' last 14 innings.

The Huntington junior held Southeastern (5-8, 3-6) hitless through five innings before Shannon Kohn led off the sixth with a bloop single. Jeff Davis blooped another single in the seventh as the Panthers scored their lone run off Chaney, who walked six.

Cody Vinings blasted a solo homerun in the fourth inning for the Huntsmen (7-8, 3-4), who had only five hits off Zach Hoylman.

                                               R  H  E

Huntington        0 0 0  2 0 2  0  --  4  5  2

Southeastern    0 0 0  0 0 0  1  --  1  2  3

WP -- Aaron Chaney; LP -- Zach Hoylman (0-2)

Paint Valley 9, Piketon 2

Drew Bobb and Josh Maynard accounted for seven of Paint Valley's nine runs with two swings of the bat.

Maynard wiped out a 2-1 Piketon lead with a three-run double in a four-run third inning and Bobb smacked a grand-slam homerun in the fourth.

Bobb went 3-for-3 with a single and a triple in addition to his homerun and drove in five runs. Maynard, Zac McFadden and Justin McGrath had two hits apiece. McGrath also had a double and scored three runs while McFadden scored twice and stole two bases.

Jonathan Buckler doubled for one of five hits off Corey Merkamp, who struck out six and walked three in recording his first win in four decisions.

                                             R  H  E

Piketon            2 0 0  0 0 0  0  --  2  5  2

Paint Valley    1 0 4  4 0 0  x  --  9  9  1

WP -- Corey Merkamp (1-3); LP -- Jonathan Buckler

Adena 8, Circleville 7 (8 innings)

David Loel struck out the last two batters he faced with a runner at second base after leading the Warriors with four hits -- driving in three runs.

Adena (10-5) lead 7-2 going into the bottom of the sixth when Circleville scored twice and then tied the game with three runs in the seventh to send the game into an extra inning.

Adam Zurmehly and L. C. Guthrie had two hits each for Adena and Adam Long belted a triple. Guthrie had a double and Zurmehly drove in a pair of Warrior runs.

                                                             R    H  E

Adena                2 0 4  0 1 0  0 1  --  8  11  1

Circleville         1 0 1  0 0 2  3 0  --  7  14  2

WP -- David Loel (3-0)

Zane Trace clips Unioto 6-5
04/26/04

Zane Trace continues to control its own destiny in Scioto Valley Conference baseball with a crucial 6-5 win over defending co-champion Unioto Monday evening.

Westfall's Lee Fausnaugh struck out 17 Panthers in a one-hit 11-1 win over Southeastern, Adena blanked Piketon 14-0 in five innings and Huntington used an eight-run fifth inning to slide past Paint Valley 8-1.

Zane Trace 6, Unioto 5

The league-leading Pioneers drop the Shermans two games back in the loss column as Zane Trace (13-3, 7-1) sweeps the season series from Unioto (10-5, 6-3).

Zane Trace scored the winning runs in the top of the seventh inning when Eddie Skaggs and Justin Shiflett reached base and scored on back-to-back wild pitches by Unioto's Chris Trainer with Trey Baker at the plate.

Alex Smith got one run back in the bottom of the seventh with a homerun to dead centerfield, but sophomore Cody Lawhorn got the final out of the game on a pop-up to the catcher with runners at first and third bases.

Unioto had tied the game 4-4 with a three-run sixth inning capped by Corey White's two-run double that hit the top of the fence. However, Lawhorn struck out the next batter to strand White at second base.

Lawhorn notched his fourth win without a loss, allowing just two earned runs.

Zach Roll and Shiflett had two hits apiece for the Pioneers and Corey Cottrell singled and doubled and Smith added a single to his homerun for the Shermans.

                                              R  H  E

Zane Trace       2 0 0  1 1 0  2  --  6  7  3

Unioto               0 0 0  0 1 3  1  --  5  7  2

WP -- Cody Lawhorn (4-0); LP -- Andy Russell

Adena 14, Piketon 0 (5 innings)

Adena (9-5, 6-2) stays just a game back of Zane Trace as Joe Jaskowiak and David Loel combine on a three-hitter.

Jaskowiak struck out eight and walked three in pitching the first four innings and helped his own cause with three hits, including a pair of doubles. He scored four runs and drove in three.

Brian Grigsby also had three hits and T. J. Pierce, Adam Zurmehly and Adam Long two each for the Warriors. Long drove in four runs and Zurmehly three.

Grigsby and Dylon Givens opened the Warrior fifth with back-to-back singles and pinch hitter Trevor Frazier scored Grigsby with a single. Long and Zurmehly drove in runs with a pair of sacrifice flies and Jaskowiak singled in a run.

Jonathon Bucker doubled for the Redstreaks (0-12, 0-7).

                                                R    H  E

Adena           0 1 5  4 4  --  14  15  1

Piketon         0 0 0  0 0  --     0    3  1

WP -- Joe Jaskowiak

Westfall 11, Southeastern 1

Only two Panthers reached base against Fausnaugh -- Zach Hoylman on a lead-off homerun in the second inning and a seventh inning walk -- as Westfall put the game away with a seven-run fifth inning.

Ryan Rogers and Bobby Horney delivered two-run singles in the Mustangs' big inning to pin the loss on Jesse Johnson, betrayed by seven errors.

Joe Morris led Westfall (8-4, 6-2) with three hits, including a triple, and Horney and Wade Bartholomew added two hits apiece as the Mustangs remain tied with Adena just one game behind league-leading Zane Trace.

Westfall hosts Zane Trace in a makeup game Tuesday.

                                                               R    H  E

Westfall                1 0 1  0 7 0  2  --  11  13  0

Southeastern       0 1 0  0 0 0  0  --   1    1  7

WP -- Lee Fausnaugh; LP -- Jesse Johnson (3-3)

Huntington 8, Paint Valley 1

Six Paint Valley errors contributed to Huntington's eight-run fifth inning to break up a duel between winner Isaac Weiderman and the Bearcats' Drew Bobb.

Weiderman threw 102 pitches -- 71 for strikes -- in striking out eight, walking none and giving up four hits. Bobb three 69 strikes in 111 pitches, fanning four and walking four. Only two of the eight runs scored against the Paint Valley hurler were earned.

Casey Kellough's two-run single highlighted Huntington's big inning -- one of his two hits. Drew Fultz and Aaron Hopkins also had two hits for the Huntsmen (6-8, 2-4) and Cody Vinings a run-scoring single.

Zac McFadden, Justin McGrath, Bobb and Shane Hudnell singled for Paint Valley's four hits.

                                                                  R  H  E

Huntington               0 0 0  0 8 0  0  --  8  8  1

Paint Valley              1 0 0  0 0 0  0  --  1  4  6

WP -- Isaac Weiderman; LP -- Drew Bobb                                   

Zane Trace takes doubleheader
04/24/04

Zane Trace combined clutch pitching with solid defense to sweep Grandview Heights 6-0, 14-3 in a non-league baseball doubleheader Saturday.

Adena split a twinbill with Logan Elm, winning 12-2 in five innings after dropping the opener 6-1, South Webster took a pair from Huntington 12-9 and 5-4 in 12 innings and Circleville swept Paint Valley 5-3 and 12-2 in five innings.

Zane Trace 6-14, Grandview Heights 0-3

"It was nice to get back out on the diamond," Pioneer coach Ron Allen said after a four-day, rain-induced layoff.

Jam George and Eddie Skaggs combined on a one-hitter -- a fourth inning single off George -- in the opener. Skaggs came on with one out in the fifth inning after George had walked five batters and loaded the bases in back-to-back innings.

Zach Roll got Zane Trace (12-3) started in the first inning with a walk and a stolen base. Roll rode home on a double by George and Cam Wiley followed with a two-run homer.

The Pioneers added two more on a throwing error in the fourth.

George finished with two hits and two runs batted in.

Wiley picked up his fifth win in six decisions in a five-inning nightcap as the Pioneers took advantage of three Grandview Heights errors, seven walks and a pair of hit-batsmen.

Trey Baker led the offense with a single, double and triple and narrowly missed hitting for the cycle with a long blast to deep centerfield that was caught for an out. George and Cody Lawhorn had two hits apiece.

Wiley drove in three runs with a single and two sacrifice flies and Lawhorn sent three teammates across the plate. Chris Davis smacked a two-run double in a six-run second inning for the Pioneers and George drove in two runs.

                                                      R  H  E

Zane Trace                 3 0 0  2 0 0  1  --  6  6  0

Grandview Heights   0 0 0  0 0 0  0  --  0  1  1

WP -- Jam George (3-0)

                                                                R    H  E

Zane Trace                   2 6 1  5 0  --  14  11  1

Grandview Heights    1 2 0  0 0  --     3    4  3

WP -- Cam Wiley (5-1)

Logan Elm 6-2, Adena 1-12

Adam Zurmehly tossed a five-inning, four-hitter in the nightcap to salvage a split for the Warriors as the sophomore lefty needed just 55 pitches to get the victory.

Zurmehly recorded 10 groundball outs and gave up no earned runs in bagging his third win without a loss.

His teammates banged out four doubles in a 13-hit attack with Brian Grigsby, David Loel, Dylon Givens and T. J. Pierce belting the two-baggers.

Grigsby led the Warriors (8-5) with three hits and Loel, Adam Long, Joe Jaskowiak and Givens all chipped in with two hits apiece. Loel scored three runs and Jaskowiak drove in three runs and Long and Pierce two each.

Back-to-back doubles in the first inning by Givens and Loel scored Adena's only run of the opener.

                                                             R  H  E

Logan Elm           1 0 3  0 0 1  1  --  6  9  0

Adena                  1 0 0  0 0 0  0  --  1  6  2

WP -- Cupp; LP -- Adam Long (1-2)

                                                       R    H  E

Logan Elm           0 0 1  1 0  --    2    4  0

Adena                  3 0 4  3 2  --  12  13  3

WP -- Adam Zurmehly (3-0); LP -- Reichelderfer

South Webster 12-5, Huntington 9-4

The Huntsmen -- who started five freshmen and four sophomores in the nightcap -- were snake-bitten from the start, losing the opener after scoring nine runs on six hits in the first inning of the opener.

South Webster answered with five runs in the bottom of the first and tied the game with two runs in both the second and third innings before scoring the winning runs in the fourth.

Huntington (5-8) was held hitless after the first inning as the Jeeps raked four pitchers for 10 hits in the comeback.

Drew Fultz, Josh Flannery and Jaymie Claytor drove in two runs each with singles in the Huntington first and Isaac Weiderman had a run-scoring single. Aaron Chaney capped the inning with a two-run homer.

With the school's senior prom taking away the Huntington upperclassmen for the nightcap, the Huntsmen got solid pitching from freshman Chris Hopkins and sophomore Josh Malone.

Hopkins allowed just two earned runs over the first eight innings before Malone came on to get the loss despite allowing just three hits over the final four innings.

Hopkins and freshman Tyler Brock had two hits apiece for Huntington.

                                                               R     H  E

Huntington           9 0 0  0 0 0  0  --   9     6  4

South Webster    5 2 2  3 0 0  x  --  12  10  3

LP -- J. D. Cooper

                                                                                R  H  E

Huntington           0 0 0  3 0 0  0 1 0  0 0 0  --  4  6  2

South Webster    1 1 0  1 0 0  0 1 0  0 0 1  --  5  7  3

LP -- Josh Malone

Circleville 5-12, Paint Valley 3-2

Corey Merkamp scattered seven hits in his best outing of the season, but an untimely error -- Paint Valley's only miscue of the game -- cost the Bearcats in the opener.

The error enabled Circleville to score the winning runs in the fifth inning for a 5-1 lead Paint Valley was unable to overcome.

Josh Maynard and Zac McFadden had three hits each for the Bearcats (1-10), Merkamp two base hits and Drew Bobb a solo homerun in the fourth.

Bobb led the way in the second game with two hits, scoring one run and stealing a base.

                                                            R  H  E

Paint Valley        0 0 0  1 0 0  2  --  3  9  1

Circleville           2 0 1  0 2 0  x  --  5  7  1

LP -- Corey Merkamp (0-3)

                                                        R   H  E

Paint Valley       0 0   0  2 0  --    2    5  1

Circleville           0 0 10  2 x  --  12  11  1

LP -- Ian Graham (0-1)

Adena, Zane Trace split
04/19/04

Zane Trace and Adena traded come-from-behind victories Monday evening as Zane Trace took a regularly scheduled game 8-7 on a walk-off homerun by Zach Lawhorn before Adena scored 10 runs in the sixth inning of a suspended game to gain a split 10-4.

In other Scioto Valley Conference baseball games Monday evening, Unioto defeated Paint Valley 9-2, Westfall rallied from a 10-6 deficit to edge Huntington 11-10 and Southeastern nipped Piketon 9-8.

Zane Trace 8-4, Adena 7-10

Zane Trace maintains its hold on first place in the SVC baseball standings, but now Adena, Unioto and Westfall are all within a game of the Pioneers in the loss column.

By agreement of Adena coach Ed Yates and his Zane Trace counterpart Ron Allen, the two teams played the regularly scheduled game first. The suspended game -- 0-0 after four innings -- was to be completed if the first game was finished by 6:30, which it was.

Adena led the first game 7-1 before a two-run homer by Zane Trace's Trey Baker in the fifth inning started the Pioneer comeback.

Baker's shot cut Adena's lead to 7-3, which became 7-6 entering the bottom of the seventh.

Winning pitcher Cam Wiley led off the Zane Trace seventh with a walk and Allen let Lawhorn hit away rather than attempt to bunt Wiley into scoring position. Lawhorn belted the second pitch to him over the left centerfield fence.

Cody Lawhorn belted a solo round-tripper in the fourth inning for the Pioneers, outhit by Adena 11-7.

Adam Long led Adena with three hits, including a solo homer in the third inning, and Brian Grigsby, Dylon Givens, T. J. Pierce and Clint Roush all had two hits apiece. Grigsby and Roush had doubles.

In the suspended game, freshman Justin Shiflett's two-run single and a run-scoring double by Chris Davis highlighted a four-run sixth inning as Zane Trace (10-3, 6-1) appeared to be on its way to a sweep with a 4-0 lead.

Long's three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth cut the lead to 4-3 and a two-run double by L. C. Guthrie broke a 4-4 tie and put Adena (7-4, 5-2) ahead for good.

Long and Adam Zurmehly had two hits each for the Warriors and Joe Jaskowiak added a double.

Davis had a double and a single for Zane Trace and Josh Fisher, Baker and Zach Lawhorn chipped in with doubles.

                                                             R  H  E

Adena                  0 1 1  1 4 0  0  -- 7  11  2

Zane Trace         0 0 0  1 2 3  2  --  8    7  4

WP -- Cam Wiley (4-0); LP -- Joe Jaskowiak

                                                                    R    H  E

Zane Trace             0 0 0  0 0   4  0  --    4     9  4

Adena                      0 0 0  0 0 10  x  --  10  10  4

WP -- Adam Zurmehly; LP -- Cam Wiley (4-1)

Unioto 9, Paint Valley 2

Senior Steve Pflug belted a two-run first inning homerun and the Shermans never trailed behind the combined five-hit pitching of sophomore Corey White and freshman Andy Russell.

Pflug, White and Russell led Unioto (10-4, 6-2) with two hits apiece.

Unioto put the game away with three runs in the fifth inning -- only one of the runs being earned.

Drew Bobb and Shane Hudnell were both 2-for-3 for Paint Valley (1-8, 1-6).

                                            R  H  E

Unioto            2 2 0  0 3 0  2  --  9  9  1

Paint Valley  0 0 0  1 0 1  0  --  2  5  2

WP -- Corey White; LP -- Shane Hudnell (0-2)

Westfall 11, Huntington 10

Westfall entered the bottom of the seventh inning down 10-6 with the bottom half of its batting order due up.

After the first batter struck out, Drew Shaw reached base via a walk and freshman Nick Clark was hit by a pitch. Wade Bartholomew was safe on a bunt single to load the bases and Joe Morris singled. When Morris' hit skipped past the outfielder, all three base-runners and Morris scored to tie the game.

Josh Barker singled to right centerfield, stole second and scored the game-winner on Lee Fausnaugh's single to left field.

Fausnaugh survived seven Mustang errors to pick up his third win in four decisions.

Isaac Weiderman was the victim of Westfall's rally after entering the game in relief in the sixth inning.

Morris and Bobby Horney led Westfall (7-4, 5-2) with three hits each and Bartholomew, Barker and Jordan Egelhoff added two hits apiece. Horney drilled a solo homerun in the third inning for the Mustangs and also had a double.

Aaron Chaney slugged a three-run homer in the sixth inning for Huntington (5-6, 1-4) and J. D. Cooper belted a solo shot in the third. Chaney, Cooper and Cody Vinings all had two hits apiece with Chaney adding a double to his round-tripper.

                                               R    H  E

Huntington      1 0 3  0 2 4  0  --  10    7  4

Westfall            2 0 3  0 1 0  5  --  11  14  7

WP -- Lee Fausnaugh (3-1); Isaac Weiderman

Southeastern 9, Piketon 8

Jesse Johnson scattered eight Piketon hits and surved five errors by the Panthers as Southeastern rallied from deficits of 5-1 and 8-7 for the victory.

Johnson -- who struck out 12 Redstreaks -- was roughed up for four runs in the first inning, but Southeastern led 7-5 after scoring three runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth. However, Piketon fought back to reclaim the lead with a three-run sixth.

Jeromy Detty and Josh Cooper singled in the bottom of the sixth and scored the tying and game-winning runs on a single by Johnson.

Detty was 3-for-3 with three stolen bases and scored four runs for the Panthers (5-6, 3-4). Zach Holyman also had three hits, including a fifth inning solo homer, and Cooper had two hits and stole two bases.

Mays drilled a three-run homer for the Redstreaks (0-9, 0-6) in the first inning. Blake Osborne had three hits and Bo Evans a pair for Piketon.

                                                    R   H  E

Piketon                   4 0 1  0 0 3  0  --  8    8  1

Southeastern        1 0 1  3 2 2  x  --  9  11  5

WP -- Jesse Johnson (3-2); LP -- Jonathon Buckler

Panthers' Johnson hits four homers
04/17/04

Southeastern's Jesse Johnson clubbed four homeruns and drove in 11 runs as the Panthers split a non-conference baseball doubleheader with Waverly Saturday 17-13, 11-14.

Portsmouth swept a twinbill from Zane Trace, handing the Pioneers their first losses of the season 12-2, 6-2 in the River City, and Westfall salvaged a split with Washington CH, winning 17-14 after dropping the opener 10-0 in six inning.

Eastern Brown used a pair of late-inning, four-run rallies to sink Huntington 11-6, 13-5, Unioto swept Berne Union 9-1 and 17-12 in eight innings and Paint Valley lost to Logan Elm 15-6, 15-0.

Southeastern 17-11, Waverly 13-14

Johnson went 5-for-6 in the doubleheader, driving in six runs in the opener on a two-run homer in the first, a solo blast in the third and a three-run shot in the fifth inning when the Panthers poured 13 runs across the plate.

Scott Stauffer picked up his first win of the season in the opener, allowing just one run in four plus innings of relief after Waverly roughed up starter Shannon Kohn for 12 runs in the first three innings.

Matt Skaggs and Stauffer scored two runs apiece on two hits each, including a double by Stauffer.

The two teams combined for 55 runs and 43 hits in the two games.

Johnson, Jeromy Detty, Chris Mavis, Stauffer and Zach Welch all had two hits apiece for the Panthers (4-6) in the nightcap as Johnson drove in five runs, three on a first-inning round-tripper.

Detty had three stolen bases in the game -- giving him five for the day -- and Stauffer and Welch smacked doubles. Stauffer and Mavis scored two runs apiece and Welch drove in a pair.

                                                  R  H  E

Waverly            0 4 8  1   0 0  0  --  13 10 3

Southeastern  2 0 1  0 13 1  x  --  17 12  4

WP -- Scott Stauffer (1-0)

                                                           R    H  E

Waverly            4 3 2  0 2 0  3  -- 14    9  2

Southeastern  4 0 0  1 0 5  1  --  11  12 3

LP -- Randy Madden (0-1)

Portsmouth 12-6, Zane Trace 6-2

Portsmouth used a pair of big innings late in both games to end Zane Trace's unbeaten streak at nine straight in a clash of two southern Ohio baseball powers.

The Trojans (9-3) scored seven runs in the fifth inning of the opener to end the game under the 10-run rule.

The Pioneers' Eddie Skaggs took the loss in his first start of the season. He was followed to the mound by Chris Davis and Zach Lawhorn as Portsmouth banged out 10 hits against the trio.

Portsmouth's Randell Scott checked the Pioneers on two hits -- a run-scoring double by designated hitter Jam George and an RBI single by Cam Wiley -- both in the fourth inning.

The Trojans scored three runs in the fifth inning of the second game to pad a 3-2 lead and pin the loss on freshman Justin Shiflett, who allowed three earned runs.

George, Wiley and Zach Lawhorn had two hits apiece for Zane Trace and George, Lawhorn and Zach Roll doubled.

Back-to-back doubles by Roll and George gave Zane Trace a 1-0 lead and Lawhorn doubled and eventually scored on a balk to tie the game 2-2 in the fourth inning.

Zane Trace returns to Scioto Valley Conference action Monday in a showdown with Adena, which trails the Pioneers by one game in the league standings. The two teams will complete a 0-0 game suspended after four innings earlier in the season before the regularly scheduled game.

                                           R    H  E

Zane Trace       0 0 0  2 0  --    2    2  4 

Portsmouth      0 0 4  1 7  --  12  10 1

WP -- Randall Scott; LP -- Eddie Skaggs (0-1)

                                                          R   H  E

Zane Trace      1 0 0  1 0 0  0  --  2    9  2

Portsmouth     0 0 2  1 3 0  x  --  6  11  0

WP -- Payne; LP -- Justin Shiflett (1-1)

Washington CH 10-14, Westfall 0-17

Washington CH stretched its unbeaten string to 10 straight in the five-inning opener before Westfall unleashed a season-best 17-hit attack to win the nightcap.

The Mustangs (6-4) were limited to three hits -- singles by Lee Fausnaugh, Josh Barker and Drew Shaw -- in the opener.

Fausnaugh was 4-for-5 in the second game, including a two-run homer in the fourth inning to give Westfall a 16-6 lead. He also tripled. Fausnaugh came on in the seventh inning to record a save after the Blue Lions had scored four runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to cut the Mustang lead.

Freshman Nick Clark -- who relieved in both games -- picked up the victory, his first of the season.

Randy Rogers had three hits and Jordan Egelhoff, Barker, Shaw, Dustin Schooley and Bobby Horney two hits apiece for the Mustangs. Egelhoff drove in four runs.

                                                         R   H  E

Westfall                0 0 0  0 0 0  --  0   3  4

Washington CH   2 4 0  1 1 2 -- 10 12 1 

LP -- Jordan Egelhoff (1-1)

                                                                 R    H  E

Westfall                 7 3 4  2 0 0  1  --  17  17  6

Washington CH    3 2 1  0 4 4  0  --  14  14  4

WP -- Nick Clark (1-1)

Eastern Brown 11-13, Huntington 6-5

Eastern Brown broke a 5-5 tie in the opener with a four-run sixth inning and followed that in the nightcap with a four-run fifth to break open what was a 4-3 game until that point.

Eastern Brown (10-0) hammered Huntington pitching for 26 hits in the two games, but the Huntsmen (5-5) damaged their own cause with 17 errors.

Jaymie Claytor, Aaron Chaney, Isaac Weiderman and Cody Vinings had two hits apiece for the Huntsmen in the opener and Josh Flannery a triple. Claytor and Chaney each drove in a run and Weiderman scored twice.

Chaney added two more hits in the second game, driving in a run and scoring another. Aarron Hopkins had two singles and drove in a run and Zac Bowling swatted a two-run double in the sixth inning to cap Huntington's scoring.

                                                                 R  H  E

Eastern Brown    1 2 0  0 2 4  2  --  11  10  5

Huntington           1 1 1  1 1 0  1  --   6     9  9

LP -- J. D. Cooper (2-1)

                                                                   R    H  E

Eastern Brown        4 0 0  0 4 2  3  --  13  16  3

Huntington               0 0 2  1 0 2  0  --    5    6  8

LP -- Cody Vinings

Unioto 9-17, Berne Union 1-12

Chris Trainer's two-run homer highlighted a five-run fourth inning for the Shermans, who got a solid four-hit pitching effort out of Alex Smith in the first game.

Smith struck out eight, walked one and hit three batters before giving way to Corey Cottrell in the seventh inning.

Trainer -- who also hit a pair of four-baggers in the nightcap -- also doubled in the opener as the Shermans (9-4) banged out 13 hits. Koby Doughty, Cottrell, Andy Russell, Smith and Will Harding had two hits apiece and Smith and Jason Depugh had a double each. Doughty drove in three runs.

Trainer slugged a two-run homer in a six-run fourth inning in the second game, but the big blow in the game was his two-run shot in a five-run eighth inning.

The Unioto senior also picked up a save in relief of winner Corey White, the third of four pitchers used by the Shermans.

Cottrell contributed a double and Steve Pflug and Russell singles in Unioto's eighth inning uprising. Pflug, Russell and Trainer had three hits apiece in Unioto's 18-hit attack in the second game, Doughty a pair of singles and Cottrell two doubles.

                                                           R   H  E

Unioto                0 0 2  5 1 0  1  --  9  13  1

Berne Union      0 0 0  1 0 0  0  --  1    4  4

WP -- Alex Smith (1-0)

                                                              R    H  E

Unioto              2 1 3  6 0 0  0 5  --  17  18  3

Berne Union    0 1 5  1 1 4  0 0  --  12 17  7

WP -- Corey White (3-2)

Logan Elm 15-15, Paint Valley 6-0

Logan Elm scored 10 runs in the bottom of the sixth in the opener to overcome a 6-5 Paint Valley lead and limited the Bearcats to two hits in the second game.

Shane Hudnell had three hits, Zac McFDadden two and Drew Bobb a triple in game one. McFadden and Hudnell had a double each and Hudnell and Bobb drove in runs.

Bobb and Justin McGrath singled for Paint Valley's two hits in the nightcap.

                                                  R    H  E

Paint Valley     1 1 0  0 0   4  0  --    6    7  2

Logan Elm        2 1 2  0 0 10  x  --  15  14  1

LP -- Corey Merkamp (0-4)

                                                            R    H  E

Paint Valley              0 0 0  0 0  --   0    2  2

Logan Elm                3 7 3  2 x  --  15  13  0

LP -- Justin McGrath (0-2)                           

Westfall bumps Adena out of first
04/16/04

Westfall knocked Adena out of a tie for first place in Scioto Valley Conference baseball with a 7-4 win over the Warriors Friday evening.

Unbeaten Zane Trace took over sole possession of first place with a 14-0, five-inning victory over Piketon, Unioto thumped Huntington 14-2 behind a pair of seven-run innings and Paint Valley's Drew Bobb struck out 17 batters as the Bearcats edged Southeastern 4-3.

Westfall 7, Adena 4

Westfall took advantage of two crucial Adena errors to score five runs in the fifth inning off Warrior starter Adam Long and reliever Adam Zurmehly.

Three of the Mustangs runs were the direct result of the two Adena miscues.

Nick Clark opened the inning with a single and Joe Morris was hit by a pitch. Clark scored on the first error of the inning and Lee Fausnaugh brought home the second with a sacrifice fly. Two walks and another hit-batsman forced in the third run and a two-run error capped the inning.

Adena freshman Clint Roush slugged a two-run homer in a three-run sixth inning, but that was as close as the Warriors (6-3, 4-1) would get. Freshman T. J. Pierce went 2-for-4 for Adena.

Ryan Rogers picked up the win for the Mustangs (5-3, 4-2) with relief help from Joe Morris, who tripled and scored two runs.

                                       R  H  E

Adena       0 0 0 0 1 3  0  --  4  5 3

Westfall    1 1 0  0 5 0  x --  7  4  3

WP -- Ryan Rogers; LP -- Adam Long

Zane Trace 14, Piketon 0 (5 innings)

The Pioneers' Cam Wiley pitched a one-hitter for his third straight victory and swatted a grand-slam homer in a 10-run second inning.

The only hit off Wiley -- who struck out six and walked one -- was losing pitcher Bo Evans' fifth inning double just inside the first base bag.

Wiley -- who also singled -- drove in five runs and was joined by Trey Baker with a homerun in the second inning. Baker -- who also had two hits -- socked a three-run shot in the inning. The homers were the third of the season for each.

While Wiley was setting the Redstreaks (0-8, 0-5) down on just 58 pitches, Zane Trace (9-0, 5-0) was pounding out 12 hits and playing errorless defense.

Freshman Justin Shiflett had a double and a single and Zach Roll a two-bagger for the Pioneers.

                                          R   H  E

Piketon           0   0 0  0 0  --    0    1  3

Zane Trace    3 10 1  0 x  --  14  12  0

WP -- Cam Wiley (3-0); LP -- Bo Evans

Unioto 14, Huntington 2 (5 innings)

Freshman Andy Russell set Huntington down on three hits and the Shermans bunched 11 of their 14 hits in the second and fourth innings.

Unioto (7-4, 5-2) had five hits in the seven-run second inning and six in the seven-run fourth as sophomore Corey Cottrell had three hits, scored twice and drove in a pair of runs.

Chris Trainer doubled and singled and Corey White had a pair of singles for the Shermans.

J. D. Cooper doubled for one of Huntington's three hits off Russell, who recorded his third win without a loss.

                                        R    H  E

Huntington   0 0 0  1 1  --    2    3  4

Unioto            0 7 0  7 x  --  14  14  2

WP -- Andy Russell (3-0); LP -- Isaac Weiderman (2-2)

Paint Valley 4, Southeastern 3

"That's the best stuff he's had in the four years he's played for us," Paint Valley coach Chris Medved said of Drew Bobb's 17-strikeout effort to end a five-game losing streak for the Bearcats.

Bobb walked three and doled out four hits in a pitcher's duel with the Panthers' Zach Hoylman, who allowed only six hits.

Paint Valley (1-5, 1-5) scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning after Southeastern (3-5, 2-4) had tied the game 3-3 in the top of the inning.

Stefan Wood singled, went to third on a two-base throwing error and scored on a wild pitch in the Panther half of the seventh inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, Shane Hudnell led off with a single, stole second and advanced to third on a sacrifice. Southeastern issued two intentional walks to set up a force at any base, but the Bearcats' Jamie Hughes worked the count to 3-2 before Hoylman uncorked a wild pitch.

Bobb and Josh Maynard had two hits apiece for Paint Valley and Justin McGrath a double. One of Maynard's two hits was a double.

                                                 R  H  E

Southeastern     0 1 0  0 0 1  1  --  3  4  2

Paint Valley        0 1 0  0 2 0  1  --  4  6  2

WP -- Drew Bobb (1-1); LP -- Zach Hoylman

ZT, Adena stay unbeaten in SVC
04/15/04

Zane Trace and Adena remained unbeaten at the top of the Scioto Valley Conference baseball race as the Pioneers outslugged Paint Valley 20-8 in six innings and Adena defeated Southeastern 12-3 in makeup games Thursday evening.

Unioto nipped Westfall 2-1 in a pitcher's duel decided on Corey White's bases-loaded single in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Zane Trace 20, Paint Valley 8

Chris Davis drove in eight runs, including a grand-slam homerun in a seven-run sixth inning that sealed Paint Valley's fifth straight loss.

Davis delivered a three-run double in a six-run third inning and also had a run-scoring single.

The Pioneers (8-0, 4-0) outhit Paint Valley (0-5, 0-5) 17-10 with Trey Baker, Zach Roll and Jim George all joining Davis in the three-hit category. Cam Wiley land Zach Lawhorn chipped in with two hits apiece as Baker, George and Wiley all had doubles.

Shane Hudnell had three hits for Paint Valley, including a three-run homer in the third inning, Drew Bobb smacked four hits, including a two-bagger, and Zac McFadden added a pair of singles.

Sophomore Cody Lawhorn went the distance for his third victory for the Pioneers.

                                             R  H  E

Zane Trace       2 4 6  0 1 7  --  20 17  2

Paint Valley     2 0 3  2 1 0  --    8  10  6

WP -- Cody Lawhorn (3-0); LP -- Corey Merkamp

Adena 12, Southeastern 3

Juniors David Loel and Joe Jaskowiak collaborated for 14 strikeouts and their second five-hitter for the Warriors in a span of 24 hours.

The Adena pair limited Unioto to five hits in a 4-2 win Wednesday evening with Loel tossing the final two innings in relief of Jaskowiak.

Against Southeastern, Jaskowiak fanned eight over the final three innings in relief of Loel and drove in three runs with two hits, including a solo homerun in the fifth inning.

The Warriors (6-2, 4-0) put the game out of reach with a four-run seventh inning featuring three walks and a pair of hit-batsmen. Adam Zurmehly and T. J. Pierce had the only hits in the inning.

Zurmehly and Adam Long joined Jaskowiak with two hits and Long and Brian Grigsby drove in three runs apiece. Long slugged a solo homer in the sixth inning and Dylon Givens had a double.

Zach Hoylman had two hits and scored a run for the Panthers (3-4, 2-3) and Chris Mavis doubled and drove in a pair of runs.

                                                   R  H  E

Adena                3 0 0  2 1 2  4  --  12  9 1

Southeastern   0 0 1  2 0 0  0  --    3  5  5

WP -- David Loel (1-1); LP -- Jesse Johnson (2-2)

Unioto 2, Westfall 1

Chris Trainer limited Westfall to two hits and scored the game-winning run after leading off the bottom of the seventh inning with a triple.

A pair of intentional walks loaded the sacks for White, who lined a single over a drawn-in infield, scoring Trainer.

White also drove in the Shermans' first run of the game with a second-inning triple that chased freshman Andy Russell across the plate after Russell had walked.

The Mustangs' lone run scored in the third inning on an error, a pair of stolen bases and a wild pitch.

Lee Fausnaugh -- who struck out five and walked four -- gave up just three hits while Trainer was fannng nine and issuing a lone free pass.

Bobby Horney doubled and Josh Barker singled for the two hits off Trainer.

                                               R  H  E

Westfall            0 0 1  0 0 0  0  --  1  2  0

Unioto               0 1 0  0 0 0  1  --  2  3  1

WP -- Chris Trainer (1-1); LP -- Lee Fausnaugh (2-1)

Adena ties ZT for first in SVC
04/14/04

Adena survived six errors to defeat Unioto 4-2 and tie Zane Trace for first place in Scioto Valley Conference baseball Wednesday evening.

Zane Trace at Westfall, Piketon at Paint Valley and Huntington at Southeastern were all postponed because of wet grounds.

Adena 4, Unioto 2

Adena picked two runners off base and threw out a would-be base stealer to snuff out potential Unioto rallies in the third and fifth innings and Joe Jaskowiak and David Loel combined to limit the Shermans to five hits and no earned runs.

The Warriors (5-2, 3-0) committed three of their six errors in the sixth inning when Unioto (5-4, 3-2) scored both of its runs.

Andy Russell led off the inning with a single off Loel, who took over for Jaskowiak after five innings. Adena committed a pair of errors around a strikeout to load the bases. Both runs scored on an infield hit by Corbin Wrights and another error.

Unioto still had runners at first and third with one out, but Loel retired the next batter on a liner to centerfield and escaped the inning with a strikeout.

Adena took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Brian Grigsby's single, who stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Loel's groundout.

Jaskowiak opened the fourth inning with a single and sophomore L. C. Guthrie and freshman T. J. Pierce followed with back-to-back doubles for two runs and a 3-0 lead. The Warriors' final was scored in the fifth inning without a hit. Dylan Givens walked, stole second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch.

Guthrie and Pierce had the game's only extra base hits and Pierce had a single to go with his two-bagger.

Jaskowiak fanned five in his five innings of work and gave up three hits and five walks. Loel struck out three and doled out two hits to earn the save. Lefty Corey White took the loss for the Shermans, who now trail Adena and Zane Trace by two games in the loss column.

                                       R  H  E

Unioto     0 0 0  0 0 2  0  --  2  5  0

Adena     1 0 0  2 1 0  x  --  4  7  6

WP -- Joe Jaskowiak (2-0); LP -- Corey White (2-2). Save -- Loel.

Pioneers slam four homers in sweep
04/10/04

Zane Trace slammed four homeruns to remain unbeaten with a doubleheader sweep of Waverly 13-6, 16-3 in non-conference baseball Saturday.

Unioto and Chillicothe split a pair with CHS winning the opener 3-2 in eight innings and the Shermans taking the nightcap 5-4. Westfall took the second game of a twinbill with Lynchburg Clay 6-4 after losing the opener 9-7 in eight innings and Southeastern salvaged a split with a 14-1 win over Leesburg Fairfield after losing 10-2 in the first game.

Zane Trace 13-16, Waverly 6-3

Eddie Skaggs needed just three pitches to get out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the seventh inning of the first game.

The Pioneer senior induced the only batter he faced to ground into a game-ending double play to foil a potential Tiger rally.

Jam George went the first 6 1/3 innings for the win.

Trey Baker drilled a three-run homer in the fourth inning and drove in four runs for the Pioneers (7-0, 3-0).

Sophomore centerfielder Zach Roll had four hits and scored three runs, Zach Lawhorn drove in four runs with a double and a single and George, Chris Davis and Ben Hayes had two hits apiece. Haynes had a triple and Cam Wiley a double.

Freshman Justin Shiflett earned his first varsity victory with four innings of five-hit pitching in the nightcap, striking out nine and walking one. He also contributed a pair of singles at the plate.

George drove in five runs with three hits that included two homeruns -- a solo shot in the first inning and a two-run blast to dead centerfield in a six-run sixth inning.

Cam Wiley smacked a solo homer in the fourth inning and Baker drove in two more runs with a pair of doubles. Zach Lawhorn added a double and a single and Haynes a pinch-hit double.

Zane Trace collected 29 hits in the two games.

                                               R    H  E

Zane Trace      3 1 1  4 0 3  1  --  13  15  1

Waverly           0 1 0  2 0 2  1  --    6  11  4

WP -- Jam George (2-0); LP -- Salisbury

                                                         R   H  E

Zane Trace        2 3 1  2 2 6  --  16  14  1

Waverly             0 0 0  1 2 0  --    3    7  5

WP -- Justin Shiflett (1-0); LP -- Cutter

Chillicothe 3-4, Unioto 2-5

Chillicothe's Brenton Davidson drove in the winning run in bottom of the eighth inning of the opener after J. W. Miller was safe on an error to open the inning and stole second.

That settled a pitching duel between the Cavaliers Kenny Branscom and Unioto sophomore Corey Cottrell. Branscom struck out 13, walked one and allowed one earned run. Cottrell fanned five, walked one and also allowed one earned run.

Jason Depugh doubled home Unioto's first run in the second inning and back-to-back doubles by Andy Russell and Corey White tied the game 2-2 in the fourth.

Depugh had two hits for the Shermans (5-3) and Miller singled twice for CHS (1-5).

Russell picked up the victory in relief of starter Jeremy Brown in the nightcap with White getting a save.

Unioto scored all five of its runs in the fifth inning after Brown singled and stole second. Corbin Wrights singled home Brown, stole second and rode home on a single by Koby Doughty. Cottrell doubled home a pair of runs and Chris Trainer drove in Cottrell with the eventual winning tally.

Pete Kidnocker and Noah Spetnagel had two hits each for the Cavaliers. Doughty led Unioto's 11-hit attack with three hits, including a double, Cottrell contributed a double and a single and Wrights a pair singles.

                                              R  H  E

Unioto            0 1 0  1 0 0  0 0  --  2  5  3

Chillicothe    1 0 1  0 0 0  0 1  --  3  4  3

WP -- Kenny Branscom; LP -- Corey Cottrell (1-1)

                                                           R   H  E

Unioto                0 0 0  0 5 0  0  --  5  11  3

Chillicothe         0 0 0  1 1 2  0  --  4    5  1

WP -- Andy Russell (2-0)

Huntington 25-6, Whiteoak 1-0

Isaac Weiderman and J. D. Cooper tossed a pair of three-hitters and Drew Fultz was a combined 6-for-7 in the two games for the Huntsmen (5-2).

Weiderman struck out eight in four innings of the five-inning opener with Aarron Hopkins fanning three in one inning of relief.

Hopkins drove in five runs with a two-run homer in the first inning, a sacrifice fly in the second and a two-run single in the third.

Fultz was 4-for-4 and Jaymie Claytor scored four runs, drove in a pair and had two singles. Cody Vinings scored three runs, drove in two and had a double and a single, Aaron Chaney three singles, three runs scored and three runs batted in, Cooper a double and a single and Zac Bowling two singles.

Cooper went the distance in game two with six strikeouts and three walks.

Chaney doubled home two runs and Fultz singled home another in the first inning to give Cooper all the scoring he needed. Fultz was 2-for-3 in the nightcap and drove in two runs.

                                                   R   H  E

Whiteoak                   1 0    0  0 0  --    1   3  6

Huntington                5 3 17  0 x  --  25  18  1

WP -- Isaac Weiderman (2-1)

                                                               R  H  E

Whiteoak               0 0 0  0 0 0  0  --  0  3  3

Huntington            3 1 0  0 0 2  x  --  6  5  3

WP -- J. D. Cooper (2-0)

Adena 9-5, Greenfield McClain 4-6

Sophomore Adam Zurmehly won a battle of southpaws in the opener for his first varsity pitching decision with a five-hitter.

Joe Jaskowiak led an 11-hit Warrior offense with a 4-for-4 performance, driving in five runs and scoring twice. His four hits included a double. David Loel was 2-for-2 with a double and a single, drove in a run and scored four runs.

Adena never trailed after scoring three runs in the first inning as Zurmehly and Jaskowiak delivered run-scoring hits.

In the nightcap, Loel doubled home a run in the top of the seventh, but the Warriors left the potential tying run at third base as the game ended.

Brian Grigsby led off the game with a homerun to give Adena (4-2) a short-lived lead that McClain erased with a four-run bottom of the first. Grigsby also tripled and scored two runs.

David Loel doubled and singled, losing pitcher T. J. Pierce had two singles and drove in two runs and Clint Roush doubled for the Warriors.

                                               R    H  E

Adena                3 0 2  2 0 2  0  --  9  11  6

McClain             1 0 1  0 2 0  0  --  4     5  5

WP -- Adam Zurmehly (1-0); LP -- Kingsolver

                                                          R    H  E

Adena                1 0 0  0 2 1  1  --  5  11  1

McClain              4 0 1  1 0 0  x  --  6    8  0

WP -- Binegar; LP -- T. J. Pierce (0-1)

Lynchburg Clay 9-4, Westfall 7-6

Lynchburg Clay scored the tying run during a rundown in the top of the seventh inning and sent three runs across the plate against freshman Nick Clark in the eighth to win the opener.

Bobby Horney was 3-for-3 at the plate for the Mustangs (3-2) and drove in three runs and Clark drove in two with a pair of hits.

Lee Fausnaugh -- who pitched one inning of relief in the opener -- recorded the final two outs to earn a save in the nightcap for Horney, who relieved starter Wade Bartholomew in the fifth.

Fausnaugh drove in two runs with a double and a sacrifice fly in the second game and Jordan Egelhoff was 2-for-3 and drove in a run. Egelhoff and sophomore Dustin Schooley had key hits in a four-run fifth for Westfall.

                                                         R  H  E

Lynchburg Clay      2 0 2  0 0 1  1 3  --  9  6  3

Westfall                   2 2 0  1 0 1  0 1  --  7  6  4

WP -- Roush; LP -- Nick Clark (0-1)

                                                                     R  H  E

Lynchburg Clay          0 0 1  0 0 0  3  --  4  4  4

Westfall                       0 0 1  0 4 1  x  --  6  6  2

WP -- Bobby Horney (1-0)

Leesburg Fairfield 10-1, Southeastern 2-14

Chris Junk tripled home a run and scored on an error to account for all of Southeastern's scoring in the opener as the Panthers were outhit 13-4.

The Panthers (3-3) bunched seven of their 12 hits in an eight-run fourth inning of the five inning nightcap as sophomore Jesse Johnson earned his second win of the season with a two-hitter.

Jeremy Detty accounted for three of Southeastern's 12 hits and stole three bases. Chris Mavis added a pair of doubles and Stefan Wood a pair of singles.

                                                       R    H  E

Southeastern          0 0 0  2 0 0  0  --    2    4  7

Leesburg Fairfield  1 1 2  2 4 0  x  --  10  13  1

LP -- Josh Cooper (1-1)

                                                                  R    H  E

Southeastern                3 1 2  8 0  --  14  12  2

Leesburg Fairfield        0 0 1  0 0  --    1    2  3

WP -- Jesse Johnson (2-1)

Westfall thumps Paint Valley
04/09/04

Westfall's Joe Morris led off the game with a homerun and Westfall rolled to a 26-6 win over Paint Valley in five innings in a makeup game Friday in Scioto Valley Conference baseball.

Morris finished the game with six hits -- including a triple and four singles -- and drove in eight runs.

Winning pitcher Lee Fausnaugh helped his own cause with four hits and Drew Shaw went 3-for-3 and Josh Barker, Randy Rodgers, Zane Gregg and Bobby Horney all chipped in with two hits apiece.

Fausnaugh pitched the first three innings for the Mustangs (3-1, 3-1) and sophomore David Link mopped up with two innings of relief.

                                           R   H  E

Westfall           3 11 4  2 6  --  26  24  2

Paint Valley    0   1 1  0 4  --     6    4  7

WP -- Lee Fausnaugh (2-0); LP -- Drew Bobb

Zane Trace stays unbeaten 16-1
04/08/04

Senior Cam Wiley and freshman Justin Shiflett combined on two-hit pitching over five innings of a 16-1 Zane Trace win over Southeastern Thursday evening to remain unbeaten in Scioto Valley Conference baseball.

Unioto bounced back from a 9-3 loss to Zane Trace Wednesday to hammer Piketon 32-2 in five innings and Westfall handed Huntington an 18-7 setback in six innings.

Adena split a pair of non-conference games, traveling to the Bowling Green area to defeat Kenowa Hills, Mich., 16-1 in five innings before losing to host Elmwood 12-2 in six innings.

Zane Trace 16, Southeastern 1 (5 innings)

The Pioneers (5-0, 3-0) continued to swing a big bat with 11 hits that included a three-run homer by senior infielder Trey Baker in the third inning.

Baker also doubled and drove in a total of four runs while Jam George had three singles, Chris Davis a pair of singles and Cody Lawhorn and Zach Roll a double each for Zane Trace.

The Pioneers roughed up sophomore Shannon Kohn for five runs in the first inning after the Panther hurler walked the first batter he faced and hit the second. Kohn -- making his first varsity start -- lasted three innings before giving way to Randy Madden for the final two innings.

Wiley pitched the first four innings for Zane Trace, striking out five, while Shiflett pitched a scoreless fifth with a pair of strikeouts.

The two Panthers hits were a solo homerun by junior Jeromy Detty in the third inning off Wiley and a single -- also in the third -- by outfielder Stefan Wood.

Southeastern (2-2, 2-2) committed five errors

                                           R    H  E

Zane Trace        5 0 4  7 0  --  16  11  2

Southeastern   0 0 1  0 0  --     1    2  5

WP -- Cam Wiley (1-0); LP -- Shannon Kohn (0-1)

Unioto 32, Piketon 2 (5 innings)

The Shermans pounded out 22 hits and took advantage of 13 Piketon errors to extend the Redstreaks' losing skid to five straight.

Koby Doughty led the Unioto attack with four hits, including a double, and drove in three runs. Corey Cottrell and Chris Trainer drove in four runs each and Corey White drove in three runs.

Trainer smashed a three-run homer in a 12-run second inning and doubled while Cottrell had two doubles and White three hits, including a two-bagger. Tyler Depugh had a double and a single and freshman Jimmy Lump a pair of hits.

Unioto (4-2, 3-1) opened with three runs in the first inning andadded 12 in the second and 11 in the fourth inning.

White notched his second win in three starts on the mound with three innings of work before giving way to Will Harding, who gave up an unearned run in two innings of hitless relief.

                                           R    H    E

Unioto           3 12 0  11  6  --  32  22    4

Piketon          1  0 0    1  0  --    2     3  13

WP -- Corey White (2-1)

Westfall 18, Huntington 7 (6 innings)

The Mustangs (2-1, 2-1) combed three Huntington pitchers for 13 hits to score at least one run in every inning before the game was halted by the 10-run rule.

The two teams combined for 13 errors with the Huntsmen (3-2, 1-2) committing seven miscues.

Jordan Egelhoff and Wade Bartholomew scattered five Huntington singles to five different players. Bartholomew pitched a scoreless sixth after Huntington had scored five runs off Egelhoff in the bottom of the fifth.

Joe Morris and Lee Fausnaugh had three hits each for the Mustangs and Bobby Horney two singles to drive in a pair of runs. Morris had four stolen bases and scored three runs while Fausnaugh drove in two runs and scored four times on a double and two singles.

Ryan Rogers tripled and Drew Shaw doubled for the Pickaway County crew and each drove in a run.

Huntington starter Cody Vinings lasted two innings in his first start of the season. Josh Flannery and Randall Wilson finished up.

                                             R   H  E

Westfall            6 3 3  1 2 3  --  18  13  6

Huntington      0 0 2  0 5 0  --    7    5  7

WP -- Jordan Egelhoff (1-0); LP -- Cody Vinings (0-1)

Adena 16, Kenowa Hills, Mich. 1 (5 innings)

Brian Grigsby, Joe Jaskowiak and L. C. Guthrie cracked two-run homers to highlight Adena's eight-run third inning.

Grigsby went 4-for-4 with two homeruns, drove in four runs and scored twice. His other homer -- a solo shot -- led off the bottom of the first inning for the Warriors.

Adam Long, John Knauff and Jaskowiak had two hits apiece for Adena with Jaskowiak driving in three runs. Long and Knauff had a double apiece, drove in two runs each and scored three runs apiece.

David Loel picked up the win -- his first of the season -- with three innings of work before yielding to freshman Clint Roush, who gave up two hits and a walk in two innings.

                                             R    H  E

Kenowa Hills         0 0 1  0 0  --   1    6  1

Adena                    3 1 8  0 4  --  16  12  2

WP -- David Loel (1-0)

Elmwood 12, Adena 2 (6 innings)

Freshman Dylan Givens pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the fourth inning, but it was not enough to avoid a split for the Warrior trip north.

Givens relieved starter Brian Grigsby with the sacks loaded and coaxed two grounders out of Elmwood hitters that were turned into force outs at home. The third batter popped out to end the inning.

However, Adena (3-1, 2-0) already trailed 6-0 at that point after a dropped fly ball opened the flood gates to a four-run first inning for the host team.

Freshman T. J. Pierce collected two of Adena's seven hits and drove in a sixth inning run with a single down the third base line.

                                            R  H  E

Adena              0 0 0  0 1 1  --    2  7  3

Elmwood         4 1 1  0 0 6  --  12  8  2

LP -- Brian Grigsby (0-1)

ZT, Adena on top in SVC baseball
04/07/04

Zane Trace and Adena inherited the top spot in Scioto Valley Conference baseball Wednesday evening in the wake of Zane Trace's 9-3 win over Unioto.

Adena thumped Piketon 18-0 in five innings, Southeastern rallied for a 10-8 win at Westfall and Huntington defeated Paint Valley 7-3.

Zane Trace 9, Unioto 3

"It's a nice win for us, but it's just one game," Zane Trace coach Ron Allen said of his team's fourth straight win without a loss. "There's still a long way to go."

Sophomore Cody Lawhorn kept Unioto at bay while his teammates sent the Shermans' Chris Trainer to an early shower with a five-run fourth inning.

That broke a 1-1 tie and the Pioneers tacked on three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. Steve Pflug's two-run double in the seventh inning was too little, too late for the Shermans (3-2, 2-1).

Lawhorn spaced six hits for his second win without a loss, walking two and striking out five.

Jam George cracked a solo homerun in the bottom of the first inning -- his fourth in two nights -- to get the Pioneers (4-0, 2-0) started. After Unioto tied the game with a run in the top of the third, Zane Trace broke the game open with its five-run fourth inning. Big hit in the inning was a bases-loaded single up the middle by freshman third baseman Justin Shiflett to score two runs.

George added a run-scoring single in the sixth inning and Chris Davis had two hits, including a run-scoring single in the fourth, and Trey Baker a double.

                                              R  H  E

Unioto              0 0 1  0 0 0  2  --  3  6  4

Zane Trace     1 0 0  5 0 3  x  --  9  7  2

WP -- Cody Lawhorn (2-0); LP -- Chris Trainer (0-1)

Adena 18, Piketon 0 (5 innings)

Adena's Joe Jaskowiak allowed just one hit and Adam Long and T. J. Pierce cracked run-scoring doubles in a 10-run fourth inning to end the game after five innings.

Jaskowiak walked two and struck out 11 in recording his first win of the season. The lone hit off the Warrior pitcher was a third inning single by Ben Thompson, who was thrown out attempting to steal second base.

Jaskowiak helped his own cause with a bases-loaded triple in a five-run first inning.

Adam Zurmehly contributed three hits to the Warriors' 11-hit attack, driving in four runs and scoring four runs. David Loel and L. C. Guthrie added two hits each. Guthrie drove in three runs and Loel drove in two and scored three times for the Warriors (2-0, 2-0).

                                     R   H  E

Piketon     0 0 0    0 0  --    0    1  3

Adena       5 3 0  10 x  --  18  11  0

WP -- Joe Jaskowiak (1-0); LP -- Stout (0-1)

Southeastern 10, Westfall 8

Southeastern scored the tying run on a disputed rundown and then added the go-ahead runs in a three-run seventh inning for the Panthers' second win in three starts.

Southeastern (2-1, 2-1) trailed 8-7 entering the seventh when the lead-off batter drew a walk, stole second and advanced to third on a base hit.

In an attempted squeeze play, the Panther runner at third was caught in a rundown but managed to elude a tag and scored the tying run to the protests of the Mustangs (1-1, 1-1).

Southeastern went on to score two more runs to make a winner of Josh Cooper in relief of starter Zach Hoylman. Westfall's Joe Morris was tagged with the loss in relief of starter Ryan Rogers and Nick Clark, who pitched one-third of an inning.

The two teams committed as many errors -- 10 -- as they had base hits.

Marcus Benson had two of Southeastern's six hits and Rogers had two of Westfall's four base knocks.

                                                     R  H  E

Southeastern        0 0 0  3 0 4  3  --  10  6  5

Westfall                  0 0 0  5 1 2  0  --    8  4  5

WP -- Josh Cooper (1-0); LP -- Joe Morris (0-1)

Huntington 7, Paint Valley 3

Aarron Hopkins' two-run triple highlighted a five-run third inning and Hopkins and Aaron Chaney drove in two insurance runs in the fifth inning for the Huntsmen (3-1, 1-1).

Chaney notched his first win of the season with two innings of scoreless relief from Cody Vinings. Shane Hudnell took the loss for the Bearcats (0-3, 0-3).

Chaney had two of Huntington's eight hits and Hopkins scored a pair of runs.

The Bearcats' Drew Bobb reached base four straight times with a triple, a double, a walk and was safe on an error. Hudnell had a double and a single, drove in one run and scored another.

                                                R  H  E

Paint Valley       0 0 1  1 1 0  0  --  3  6  4

Huntington        0 0 5  0 2 0  x  --  7  8  3

WP -- Aaron Chaney (1-0); LP -- Shane Hudnell (0-1)

Unioto goes 2-0 in SVC baseball
04/06/04

Unioto scored 10 runs in the first inning and cruised to a 14-4 win over Paint Valley in six innings Tuesday evening to go 2-0 in Scioto Valley Conference baseball.

Zane Trace and Huntington stepped outside the conference for a pair of wins as Zane Trace outslugged Circleville 24-18 and Huntington hammered Western 19-2 in five innings.

Unioto 14, Paint Valley 4

All-Ohioan Chris Trainer belted a run-scoring double and a three-run homer in the first inning to jump start the Shermans (3-1, 2-0) to their third straight win after a season-opening loss to Circleville.

Unioto opened the bottom half of the first inning with consecutive doubles by Koby Doughty, Corey Cottrell and Trainer.

Paint Valley -- which had scored a run in the top of the first -- countered with three runs in the second, but were blanked the rest of the way by Cottrell and reliever Alex Smith, who worked the sixth.

Cottrell gave up six hits and two walks and struck out six.

Doughty led Unioto's 12-hit attack with four hits -- including a double -- and drove in three runs. Trainer finished with three hits and Cottrell a double and a single.

Justin McGrath doubled and singled and Drew Bobb tripled for the Bearcats (0-2, 0-2), who were guilty of six errors.

                                              R   H  E

Paint Valley      1 3 0  0 0 0  --     4    6  6

Unioto              10 0 0  0 3 1  --  14  12  0

WP -- Corey Cottrell (1-0)

Zane Trace 24, Circleville 18

"We went to a baseball game and T-ball broke out," Zane Trace coach Ron Allen quipped of the 42 runs and and 38 hits that featured three home-runs by the Pioneers' Jam George.

Circleville scored nine runs in the top of the first inning, but Zane Trace bounced right back with seven in the bottom of the inning and took the lead with a four-run second.

The Tigers regained the lead 18-16 with an eight-run sixth, but again Zane Trace (3-0, 1-0) answered with eight runs in the bottom of the inning.

George -- the fourth of four Zane Trace pitchers -- nailed down the win with a scoreless seventh.

George belted a three-run homer in the first inning, a solo shot in the second and a two-run round-tripper in the sixth.

Matt Brooks had three hits -- including a three-run double in the first inning -- for the Pioneers, Cam Wiley a solo homerun and a double, Cody Lawhorn and Ben Haynes three hits each and Trey Baker a pair of hits. Chris Davis belted a three-run double in the first inning.

                                                       R    H  E

Circleville                 9 0 0  1 0 8  0  --  18  17  3

Zane Trace              7 4 3  1 1 8  x  --  24  21  5

WP -- Jam George (1-0)

Huntington 19, Western 2 (5 innings)

The Huntsmen's J. D. Cooper allowed just one hit in five innings as Huntington took advantage of 12 Western errors for its second win in three starts.

Jaymie Claytor led Huntington's 11-hit offense with three hits, scoring four runs and driving in another.

Cody Vinings and Aarron Hopkins had two hits apiece for the Huntsmen (2-1, 0-1) and combined to score seven runs and Randall Wilson doubled for the team's only extra base hit.

Cooper struck out nine and allowed no earned runs in his five innings on the mound.

                                          R    H    E

Western            2 0 0  0 0  --    2    1  12

Huntington       4 3 6  6 x  --  19  11    2

WP -- J. D. Cooper (1-0)

Westfall's Fausnaugh tosses 2-hitter
04/05/04

Westfall's Lee Fausnaugh pitched a two-hitter, struck out 15 and drove in the only run of the game as Westfall edged Piketon 1-0 in a Scioto Valley Conference baseball opener for both teams Monday evening.

Zane Trace hammered nine singles in a 10-2 rout of Huntington, Unioto defeated Southeastern 8-2 behind sophomore Corey White and Adena handled Paint Valley 13-4.

Westfall 1, Piketon 0

Mustang sophomore Joe Morris singled in the fifth inning for one of his two hits, went to second on an error, stole third and scored on Fausnaugh's sacrifice fly.

That was the only run Fausnaugh needed as he walked just two and Westfall committed just one error.

Piketon's Bo Evans gave up just six hits and four walks while fanning six.

Ryan Rodgers -- who missed last season with a broken arm -- also had two hits for Westfall.

                                          R  H  E

Piketon        0 0 0  0 0 0  0  --  0  2  3

Westfall       0 0 0  0 1 0  x  --  1  6  1

WP -- Lee Fausnaugh (1-0); LP -- Bo Evans (0-2)

Zane Trace 10, Huntington 2

Senior Cam Wiley recorded the victory with five innings of six-hit pitching before Cody Lawhorn and Eddie Skaggs mopped up with an inning of relief apiece.

Wiley fanned six, walked two and gave up just one unearned run.

The Pioneers (2-0, 1-0) erupted for three runs in the third inning off Huntington ace Isaac Weiderman and applied the clincher with four more in the fourth. Weiderman departed with one out in the fourth.

All nine Zane Trace base hits were singles with Trey Baker, Zach Roll and Cody Lawhorn collecting two singles apiece. Roll and Lawhorn drove in two runs each and Baker and Jam George each scored three runs.

                                               R  H  E

Huntington     0 0 0  1 0 0  1  --    2  6  1

Zane Trace     0 0 3  4 0 3  x  --  10  9  4

WP -- Cam Wiley (1-0); LP -- Isaac Weiderman (1-1)

Unioto 8, Southeastern 2

With the Shermans nursing a 3-2 lead, Southeastern committed errors on the first two batters of the fifth inning to open the flood gates for four Unioto runs.

Steve Pflug doubled in the second run of the inning and White and Justin Caplinger delivered two-out run-scoring singles. The first run of the inning scored on the second of the two errors.

White was touched for eight hits, but the sophomore lefty walked none and struck out six. His counterpart -- Panther sophomore Jesse Johnson -- suffered his first loss after a season-opening win.

Johnson was rapped for 10 hits -- including a double and two singles by Tyler Depugh. White had two singles and Pflug and Alex Smith each doubled.

Johnson had two singles for Southeastern, Shannon Kohn a double and a single, Josh Cooper a double and Marcus Benson a triple.

                                                  R   H  E

Southeastern      0 0 2  0 0 0  0  --  2    8  2

Unioto                  1 2 0  0 4 1  x  --   8  10  0

WP -- Corey White (1-1); LP -- Jesse Johnson (1-1)

Adena 13, Paint Valley 4

Drew Bobb's three-run homer highlighted a four-run third inning to give Paint Valley a 4-1 lead, but Adena answered in the bottom of the inning with six straight hits to tie the game.

Included in Adena's rally was a two-run homer by David Loel.

The Warriors took the lead with a two-run fifth inning on winner Adam Long's sacrifice fly and a run-scoring grounder.

Adena broke the game open with a seven-run sixth featuring seven hits to pin the loss on reliever Corey Merkamp, who was tapped for 10 of the Warriors' 18 hits.

Long limited the Bearcats to four hits and a lone walk while striking out 11.

Dylon Givens, Brian Grigsby, Loel and Joe Jaskowiak all had three hits apiece for Adena, Long and Adam Zurmehly two apiece and L. C. Guthrie a double. Loel drove in four runs, Zurmehly three and Long two while Loel and Givens scored three runs each.

                                                    R   H  E

Paint Valley        0 0 4  0 0 0  0  --    4    4  1

Adena                  1 0 3  0 2 7  x  --  13  18  3

WP -- Adam Long (1-0); LP -- Corey Merkamp (0-1)

Unioto, Circleville split twinbill
04/03/04

Freshman Andy Russell pitched a complete game four-hitter as Unioto salvaged a split of a non-conference baseball doubleheader at Circleville Saturday 6-2.

Circleville took the opener of the twinbill 5-4, scoring three unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Russell -- a righthander -- allowed just one walk and fanned seven in his varsity debut and shined at the plate as well with three hits and a run batted in.

The Shermans overcame a 2-0 deficit in the nightcap, scoring three runs with two out in fifth inning. Koby Doughty was safe on an error to start the rally and Corey Cottrell followed with a single. Steve Pflug drew a walk to load the bases and Alex Smith tied the game with a two-run single. Russell followed with a single to drive in the third run of the inning.

Tyler Depugh had two singles and a double, Russell three singles and Cottrell two singles to lead Unioto's 11-hit offense.

Cottrell pitched the first six innings of the opener, allowing just three hits and a walk while fanning four.

Corey White came on in the seventh with a 4-2 lead, but was victimized by the Shermans' only two errors of the game as Circleville rallied for the win. Pflug had two hits in the first game.

                                          R  H  E

Unioto          1 0 1  0 1 0  1  --  4  5  2

Circleville    0 0 0  0 1 1  3  --  5  5  3

LP -- Corey White (0-1)

                                                       R  H  E

Unioto            0 0 0  0 3 2  1  --  6  1  1

Circleville      0 1 1  0 0 0  0  --  2  4  2

WP -- Andy Russell (1-0)

SE wins SVC baseball opener
03/31/04

Southeastern opened the Scioto Valley Conference baseball season with an 11-8 win at Piketon Wednesday evening.

Adena and Zane Trace played four innings before darkness halted their game without either team crossing the plate. The game -- moved to Adena from Zane Trace because of wet grounds -- will be completed when the two teams meet again April 19.

Adena's David Loel and the Pioneers' Cam Wiley matched goose eggs as Loel stranded seven base runners, allowing four hits and striking out seven.

Wiley yielded just two hits and fanned five.

Adena is at Huntington and Zane Trace at Southeastern in league games Friday.

Southeastern 11, Piketon 8

The Panthers capitalized on four Piketon errors and two walks to score six runs in the sixth inning and overcome a 5-3 deficit.

The Redstreaks were guilty of seven miscues while Southeastern committed just one error behind winner Jesse Johnson. Johnson allowed eight hits and two walks and fanned eight.

Matt Stout took the loss for Piketon, giving up three runs in the sixth inning before yielding to Kyle Vulgamore.

Jeromy Detty clubbed a triple and a single, Chris Junk a double and a single and Scott Stauffer a double for Southeastern.

Junior Caleb Acord was 3-for-3 for the Redstreaks -- including a double -- and drove in three runs. Vulgamore had two hits and drove in a pair of runs and Zach Mays and Stout had a double apiece for Piketon.

Southeastern hosts Zane Trace and Unioto is at Piketon Friday.

                                                   R  H  E

Southeastern      1 0 1  0 1 6  2  --  11  7  1

Piketon                 2 0 0  3 0 2  1  --    8  8  7

WP -- Jesse Johnson (1-0); LP -- Matt Stout (0-1)

Huntsmen win opener on no-hitter
03/29/04

Huntington opened the 2004 baseball campaign Monday evening with a 2-1 victory over Lynchburg Clay as the opposing pitchers both three no-hitters in the five-inning non-conference game.

Zane Trace hammered Minford 18-3, Northwest edged Piketon 3-2 and Adena and Circleville battled to a 4-4 tie in a game suspended with Circleville batting in the fourth inning.

Huntington 2, Lynchburg Clay 1

The Huntsmen's Isaac Weiderman struck out nine and walked just one batter -- throwing strikes on 50 of his 72 pitches.

Huntington scored the winning run in the bottom the fifth inning with two out after senior Jaymie Claytor walked with one out. Claytor stole second base, advanced to third on an error and scored on a mental lapse by the Mustang pitcher.

With runners at first and third with only one out, the Lynchburg Clay pitcher fielded a grounder back to the mound, but threw to first base for the second out as the winning run scored.

                                                           R  H  E

Lynchburg Clay       1 0 0  0 0  --  1  0  3

Huntington               0 0 1  0 1  --  2  0  2

WP -- Isaac Weiderman (1-0)

Zane Trace 18, Minford 3 (5 innings)

Four innings of one-hit pitching by sophomore Cody Lawhorn and a robust 18-hit attack added up to a five-inning breeze for the Pioneers.

Zane Trace exploded for nine runs in the second inning and scored three runs in each of the next three innings.

Jam George went 5-for-5 for Zane Trace with a triple and two runs batted in. Cody Lawhorn added three hits -- including a double and a triple -- and drove in three runs and Zach Lawhorn, Justin Shiflett and Zach Roll all contributed two hits apiece.

Zach Lawhorn drove in four runs and Roll scored three times while Trey Baker doubled.

Cody Lawhorn was touched for a pair of unearned runs in the fourth inning before giving way to Eddie Skaggs, who gave up two hits and an earned run in one inning of work.

                                              R   H  E

Zane Trace           0 9 3  3 3  --  18  18  2

Minford                 0 0 0  2 1  --    3    3  5

WP -- Cody Lawhorn (1-0)

Northwest 3, Piketon 2

Northwest stranded the potential tying run at second base to preserve the Mohawks' season opening win.

Piketon's Chase Vickers reached base on a one-out error in the top of the seventh inning and was replaced by Ben Thompson, who stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on Kyle Vulgamore's base hit.

Vulgamore stole second, but was stranded as Northwest got the final out of the game.

Zach Mays, Bo Evans, Vulgamore and Matt Stout all had singles for the Redstreaks.

Evans was tagged with the loss, giving up only five hits.

                                                    R  H  E

Piketon                   0 0 0  1 0 0  1  --  2  4  0

Northwest              0 1 0  2 0 0  x  --  3  5  3

LP -- Bo Evans (0-1)

Adena 4, Circleville 4 (game suspended)

The game was suspended with Circleville at bat with two outs in the top of the fourth inning.

The Tigers had runners at first and third when the game was halted because of rain. The game will not be made up unless the two teams need a late season game prior to the tournaments.

Adena -- starting five players seeing their first varsity action -- scored two runs in each of the first two innings.

The Warrior reserve team nipped the Chillicothe freshmen 1-0 in a six-inning game.

Unioto SVC baseball favorite
03/28/04

A year ago Unioto and Adena shared the Scioto Valley Conference baseball crown with 13-1 records.

The six opposing coaches responding to the annual questionnaire of the-sportspage.com are unanimous in their opinion Unioto will repeat its share of that championship.

Zane Trace -- which failed to advance out of sectional play last season for the first time in four years under head coach Ron Allen -- is given the best chance of derailing the Shermans' title hopes with Huntington a close third in the voting.

All three teams return at least two pitchers who figured prominently in their 2002-03 rotation.

Unioto's Tony Taylor begins his fourth year at the head of the Sherman program with three pitchers who accounted for 13 of the team's 20 victories in 2002-03 and a first team all-Ohioan in senior pitcher/outfielder Chris Trainer.

Zane Trace returns three pitchers who recorded nine of the team's 14 wins last season and Huntington's Isaac Weiderman and Aaron Chaney were each 5-4 as the Huntsmen won 11 games.

"I believe that if weather permits No. 1's (pitchers) to go against No. 1's, we will have some low-scoring, well-played baseball games," Huntington coach Sam Toppins offers. "Every staff has a very good No. 1 pitcher, so the title could come down to how the No. 2 and No. 3 pitchers perform in league play.

"Let's hope for good weather," he concludes.

Zane Trace won the league title two years ago while Huntington has never won an SVC baseball championship.

The coaches see Adena and Westfall battling for the final spot in the top half of the league with Paint Valley finishing ahead of Southeastern and Piketon in that order.

The league begins the 2003-04 season with only one new coach -- Keith Detwiler, who takes over at Piketon. The Redstreaks have won only one of their last 56 SVC games since the 1999 season.

Here is a team-by-team preview of the 2003-04 SVC baseball season, in alphabetical order:

Adena

"Our season will hinge on how quickly the young players pick up our system," says veteran Adena coach Ed Yates.

"We throw a lot at them and expect them to be able to do what we ask. We'll see how quickly they learn," he adds.

The Warriors must replace their top three pitchers from 2003 -- Rhett Starr, SVC player of the year, all-district, and an Ohio Coaches Association all-Ohioan; Drew Ater, now playing at Northern Ohio, and Brady Ratzlaff, now at Cedarville College. Starr and Ater were four-year starters and Ratzlaff a three-year starter.

Also gone are second baseman Zach Doughty, a three-year starter, and outfielder/designated hitter Brady Black, a two-year starter.

The cupboard isn't bare, however, as catcher Adam Long, outfielders Brian Grigsby and Adam Zurmehly, shortstop David Loel and catcher/outfielder Joe Jaskowiak return. Loel was a second team all-SVC selection last season and Grigsby and Long honorable mention.

Junior Steve Cory, sophomores John Knauff and L. C. Guthrie and freshmen Dylan Givens, T. J. Pierce and Clint Roush all figure in the Warrior plans.

Season opener: Circleville, home, Monday.

SVC opener: at Zane Trace, Wednesday

Huntington

Toppins has nine seniors on his roster -- seven of whom could start -- who have been a part of the Huntington baseball program all four years.

The seniors are Weiderman, second baseman Zac Bowling, catcher Aarron Hopkins, shortstop Josh Flannery, third baseman J. D. Cooper, first baseman Casey Kellough and outfielders Jaymie Claytor, Randall Wilson and Chris Butler.

Junior letter winner Cody Vinings could be the Huntsmen's No. 3 pitcher behind Weiderman, first team all-SVC last season, and Chaney, second team all-SVC.

Junior outfielder Drew Fultz also could break into the starting lineup.

"Once again I believe the league will be very talented and competitive," Toppins says.

Season opener: Lynchburg Clay, home, Monday.

SVC opener: Westfall, home, Wednesday.

Paint Valley

The Bearcats' Chris Medved echoes Toppins' view of the 2004 league race.

"I think it is going to be a very competitive league this year," the Paint Valley coach says. "The difference between the first place team and the fourth or fifth place team might only be a couple of bounces."

Paint Valley must replace catcher Garron Jordan, shortstop Nick Jordan, second baseman Will Brown and third baseman Pat McCloskey. McCloskey was an all-league first team selection in 2003 and Nick Jordan was honorable mention.

Senior Drew Bobb -- an all-league first team performer last season and a four-year starter -- will take over at shortstop with juniors Aaron Medved and Shane Hudnell holding forth at third and behind the plate, respectively.

Fleet-footed Zac McFadden -- a three-year starter -- returns to patrol centerfield.

The versatile Bobb -- who has roamed the outfield, played first base and caught -- is the top pitcher of record (4-1) returning and will team with three-year starter Corey Merkamp to give the Bearcats a solid hill duo.

Junior Ian Grahm and sophomores Justin McGrath and Brandon Ramsey will see mound duty as well.

Season/SVC opener: at Unioto, Wednesday.

Piketon

Detwiler's Redstreaks have no where to go but up after finishing 5-20 overall in 2003, including 1-13 in the SVC.

Piketon ended a 43-game SVC losing streak with a 6-5 win over Southeastern last season. Those two teams open the league campaign against each other Wednesday.

Seth Davenport -- the Redstreaks' top pitcher a year ago -- graduated along with Brandon Pinkerton, an all-SVC honorable mention selection. Davenport was a second team all-league choice.

Season opener: at Northwest, Monday.

SVC opener: Southeastern, home, Wednesday.

Southeastern

"Improving our offensive output," is the main goal of head coach Tim Lockwood, beginning his second season at the Panther helm after going 4-18 in 2003.

Southeastern has experienced hands in outfielder/pitcher Josh Cooper and infielder/pitchers Jesse Johnson, Zach Hoylman and Scott Stauffer and outfielder Stefan Wood.

Cooper was an all-league second team pick a year ago. Darius Scott and Aaron Moats -- all-SVC honorable mention in 2003 -- graduated.

Lockwood also expects contributions from Jacob Estep and Jeff Davis -- a pair of returning letter winners -- and Jeromy Detty, Tony Young, Randy Madden, Chris Junk, Shannon Kuhn, Marcus Benson and Chris Mavis.

Season opener: Eastern, home, Tuesday.

SVC opener: at Piketon, Wednesday.

Unioto

Unioto's title defense begins with the trio of Trainer, junior Alex Smith and sophomore lefty Corey White -- a combined 13-3 on the mound a year ago.

Trainer (5-1) suffered his only loss of the campaign 4-3 to Fairland in a Division III district semifinal while Smith and White were each 4-1. When he's not on the mound, Trainer will be in center field, giving the Shermans a strong presence up the middle with Koby Doughty and Tyler Depugh returning at shortstop and second base, respectively.

Taylor must find a replacement for the graduated Scott Lagard behind the plate, Nate Carver at first base and John Bruce at third. Carver was honorable mention all-Ohio and first team all-SVC along with Lagard and Trainer. Bruce and Jason Rose were all-league honorable mention.

There is depth in the outfield where White can join Trainer, sophomore Corey Cottrell and senior Steve Pflug, all returning starters. White may inherit Carver's spot at first base.

Smith also can play first as well as catch.

Season opener: Greenfield McClain, home, Tuesday.

SVC opener: Paint Valley, home, Wednesday.

Westfall

Junior Lee Fausnaugh and sophomore Joe Morris are an interchangeable pair at shortstop and on the mound where both earned all-league honors in 2003 -- Fausnaugh first team and Morris second team.

Fausnaugh was 6-5 on the mound as the Mustangs went 11-15, 6-8 a year ago.

Also returning for head coach Trevor Thomas' fourth year at the Mustang helm are outfielders Bobby Horney and Josh Barker, a pair of all-SVC honorable mention picks.

Junior Wade Bartholomew returns behind the plate, Jordan Egelhoff at first base and Ryan Rogers on the infield. Egelhoff and Rogers also will be counted on to bolster the pitching staff.

Barker, Rogers and Drew Shaw are the lone Mustang seniors.

Freshman Nick Clark, junior Zane Gregg and sophomores Dustin Schooley and Kyle Joseph will be counted on to round out the starting lineup and provide depth off the bench.

Season opener: Logan Elm, home, Tuesday.

SVC opener: at Huntington, Wednesday.

Zane Trace

"We hope to improve on our mark (14-14, 9-5) of 2003," says Allen -- 85-33 in four seasons -- as he grooms the Pioneers for his fifth season.

"Unlike last year, we have experience returning (six starters and two others who saw playing time)," Allen adds. "We are hoping to have a good season. With seven seniors, leadership will be a key. Also, we have some excellent young talent."

Pitcher/catcher Jam George was first team all-SVC and an all-Ohio honorable mention pick by the Baseball Coaches Association in 2003 and shortstop Trey Baker was second team all-SVC. Pitcher/first baseman Cam Wiley was honorable mention all-SVC along with the graduated Chase Leadingham.

Also graduated were Ty Swackhammer and Shane Merriman.

Wiley (4-4), sophomore Cody Lawhorn (3-2) and George (2-4) are the top pitchers of record returning. Lawhorn will be at second base when not pitching. Rounding out the returning starters are sophomore Zach Roll and senior Zach Lawhorn in the outfield.

First baseman Chris Davis, outfielder Josh Fisher and pitcher/outfielder Eddie Skaggs are returning letter winners.

Season opener: at Minford, Monday.

SVC opener: Adena, home, Wednesday.

Former SVC preps renew rivalry
02/28/04

Two former Scioto Valley Conference athletes renewed their rivalry Saturday night as Ohio State defeated Kent State 5-3 in collegiate baseball in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Westfall graduate Trey Fausnaugh worked the final two and one-third innings of the game to earn a save in Ohio State's victory, allowing just one hit -- an eighth inning single to Kent State's Andrew Davis.

Davis -- a Zane Trace graduate -- led the Golden Flashes with three hits, including a double, and scored two of his team's three runs.

Both are redshirt freshmen.