Ritzler fans 10 in Calvert's 2-1 victory

SANDUSKY — Calvert did just enough.The Division VII No. 10 Senecas used two-out rallies in two separate innings Tuesday, topping Sandusky St. Mary 2-1 in Sandusky Bay Conference River Division action.The biggest key to victory for Calvert (7-2, 5-1 SBC River) was seven strong innings on the mound from Logan Ritzler, who struck out 10."Logan Ritzler came and took the ball and came out strong," Calvert coach Matt Coleman said. "That was huge. He's been wanting to step up and have more starts. Last year, I think all of his games were in relief. He had 10 or 11 appearances in relief."We felt like he earned it and he came out and showed that he's a competitor."St. Mary (6-4, 2-4) tallied just two hits off of Ritzler. Yet, Ritzler needed to make some big pitches as the Panthers had the tying run in scoring position in the sixth inning.Toby Gibson struck out to start the inning, but reached base on a dropped third strike. Pinch runner Leo Will came on to replace him, stealing second base to give the Panthers an opportunity.A groundout by Will Bruni moved Will to third. Then, Blake Finneran laid down a bunt that was fielded by Ritzler. He made the throw to first for the out, but on the exchange, the ball was dropped and Will sprinted in for the run.Cayden Wikel then reached on an infield single and a throwing error on the play allowed him to take second. But, Ritzler bounced back to induce a lazy flyout to end the threat.St. Mary went down in order in the seventh inning. Ritzler took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, keeping the Panthers off balance with a biting curveball throughout."I give Ritzler a lot of credit for throwing strikes," St. Mary coach Ryan Myers said. "Our approach to the plate wasn't what we needed it to be. It was a case of too little, too late. We have to string together a rally earlier in the game instead of the sixth or seventh inning."Reid Wikel was good on the mound for St. Mary throughout, but Calvert took advantage of some walks to get on the board.After putting the order down in order in the first, Wikel added the first two outs of the second inning with ease. But, Charlie Palm drew a walk and stole second. He then swiped third and scrambled home when the throw on an extremely windy day sailed into left field.Calvert added a second run in the third inning in two-out fashion as well. After a strikeout and groundout, Wikel walked Vincenzo Lyons. A.J. Shoemaker followed with an opposite field single to right before Connor Moyer pulled a single the same way to score Lyons."We feel like we can run the bases pretty well, especially on a day like today where the catcher has to throw it to the fence to get it to second base," Coleman said. "We felt like we could take advantage of that. We've done a good job on the bases all year."Wikel allowed just four hits while walking five. He struck out six in six innings."He's going to be around the zone all the time," Coleman said. "He's a competitor, too. We saw him last year when we played them at Heidelberg and he kept us in check then. Both him and his brother (Cayden) are going to keep them in the game."After tallying just one hit in a 4-0 loss to Gibsonburg on Monday, the Panthers faced one of the best teams in the state in Calvert.St. Mary doesn't have any time to rest as it hosts Hopewell-Loudon (8-2, 5-1) today."We just have to start learning how to win some of these close games," Myers said. "But, it's never been a bad thing to be in a tight ballgame with the preseason No. 1 team in the state, either. I think that says a lot about us as a program and how far we've come with the team."Calvert is right back in action today when it hosts Danbury. The Senecas are in the thick of the SBC River race halfway through April.Cameron Moyer tied a state record by being hit by a pitch five times in Monday's win over New Riegel. He is just the second player in state history to be hit five times in one game."We're starting to figure ourselves out a little bit," Coleman said. "We're finding out our identity and where people fall into spots. We're going to find out if we have pitching depth. Danbury comes to us tomorrow and we have Genoa over the weekend. We're not going to look past tomorrow."It's always good to play (Danbury) coach (Benjamin) Stover because he's a Calvert grad and he has them moving in the right direction."