No. 1 Senecas start fast in 13-0 shutout

KANSAS - Patience at the plate.Six runs in the second inning, with three in the top of the sixth and four in the seventh allowed Calvert to run away with the game against Lakota.The Senecas shut out the Raiders en route to a 13-0 victory in Sandusky Bay Conference River Division play on Thursday.It was a continuation of a game that had been canceled on Wednesday due to the weather."I think it was a good approach at the plate, and putting the ball in play," Calvert coach Matt Coleman said. With two outs, the Senecas (10-0, 7-0) needed something to jumpstart the offense in the second inning. Bases were reloaded with Vincenzo Lyons at bat. After two strikes, Lyons was hit by Hunter Sweeney, and it drove in Cameron Moyer.AJ Shoemaker lined a single to right field, and with that one hit, he chased in Ritzler and Branyan Coleman. "We had a really slow start yesterday," Shoemaker said. "I think we came out ready to hit the ball and ready to score runs. Be strong on the defense and come out and be the team that we know we can be."If that wasn't enough excitement, Charlie Palm whacked a double to center field, which scored Shoemaker and Lyons."You can't leadoff and give them six runs right off the bat," Lakota coach Drew Linder said. "You can't climb out of a 6-0 hole. We made a base running error in the first inning and it just snowballed from there. We walked too many."The Raiders (8-4, 5-1) switched from Sweeney to Grant Scherger for pitching, and it shut momentum off for the Senecas until the top of the sixth inning."We switched him out because he didn't look as strong as he did yesterday," Linder said. "I thought why keep him in there when it's a 6-0 game and I don't want to overwork him since we are only halfway through the season."Sweeney has pitched 90-100 pitches each time he has started. He gave up six runs on three hits with three strikeouts, three walks, and all six runs were earned."I think we had a patient approach at the plate," said Coleman about Lakota's approach to switch pitchers. "Hunter (Sweeney) is a good pitcher, and so is Grant (Scherger). We didn't want to do too much."Lyons roped a double to left field, and then stole third base with Shoemaker at bat.Shoemaker then hit a double that was then stretched to a triple, driving Lyons in for his second run of the night."Grant threw me an outside ball," Shoemaker said. "I didn't do anything special, I just hit it where it was pitched. I stretched it to three."The bats continued to be hot for Calvert in the last two innings. Palm nailed a double to left field that gave him an RBI as Shoemaker plated in.Connor Moyer after one strike doubled on a fly ball and drove Palm in. At that point, it was 9-0 with Calvert in the lead heading into the bottom of the sixth.The top of the seventh saw some other faces of the team that aren't seen often at bat. Ritzler roped another single on a hard ground ball, which scored Braxton Shoemaker.With two outs, Cohen Stull scored on a Brock Reed walk, Parker Ranieri-Moyer scored on a Connor Moyer walk, and Ritzler scored as Cameron Moyer was hit by a pitch."For us, it was good patience and understanding the situation," coach Coleman said. "It was us being unselfish. Let the next guy come up and he will cover you."Tucker Coleman pitched five scoreless innings with three hits, and had nine strikeouts, while Braxton Shoemaker, AJ's younger brother, pitched the remaining two innings. He scattered two hits and recorded two strikeouts."Tucker threw three pitches yesterday and then came back today," coach Coleman said. "We had to keep his pitch count down and really, it was Braxton who shut the door the last two innings."Scherger pitched for four innings, allowed three runs on six hits, with six punchouts and one walk. As long as Mother Nature cooperates, the Senecas are headed to rival Hopewell-Loudon (9-4, 4-1) tonight where they hope to continue their undefeated season."Hopefully it's similar to today," Coleman said. "Have a patient approach and also get the pitches we want and be able to hit on two strikes and two outs too. If we can do that, it's a good recipe. They are a formidable opponent, but I know our boys will be ready to go."