Ritzler strikes out 13, Senecas inch closer to SBC River title

BASCOM – Third time the charm, and so was Logan Ritzler's pitching arm.After being rained out twice this season, Calvert and Hopewell-Loudon met on a partly cloudy day to finish one of the two games.Ritzler's performance on the mound with 13 strikeouts and only allowing three hits in a complete game game propelled the Senecas to an 8-1 win over the Chieftains in a Sandusky Bay Conference River Division tilt on Saturday. "We knew that we were on defense with two runners on base," Ritzler said as the game resumed from a few weeks ago. "We knew we had to get out of the inning as best as we could, and I think we did a great job of that. We also knew we needed to get the bats going."Having the sun shining and not in the clouds was something that Matt Coleman was happy to see."It was awesome to see the shiny thing in the sky," Coleman said jokingly. "Logan executed and he came out, found the zone again, and kept them off-balance."Saturday's game started in the bottom of the third inning with Calvert leading 4-0.The Senecas (15-1, 11-0) had H-L (14-5, 7-2) down to two outs with Jacoby Ellis at bat. Ellis struck out but not before Collin Smith snuck across home plate for the Chieftains only run of the game, making it 4-1."That was the only positive outcome of the game," Chieftains coach Brock Bell said. "We saw an opportunity to get two guys into scoring position and they threw down. We pushed the envelope a little bit and tried to cause some chaos on the basepath."Cameron Moyer, Calvert's No. 5 batter, hammered a homer over the fence in left field in the top of the fifth inning.That momentum continued in the top of the sixth inning, where Connor Moyer drove in AJ Shoemaker and Charlie Palm on a double that landed two inches from going over the fence in left field.Connor Moyer was 2-for-4 with two RBIs. It was 7-1 and with two outs, Tucker Coleman whacked a ground ball. Though he was out trying to steal second base, it drove in Gabe Badik. "We didn't come ready to play today," Bell said. "We didn't have a good approach at the plate. Ritzler's a really good pitcher and had us off-balance all day."H-L changed out pitchers from Kellen Frankart to Austin Smith in the top of the fourth inning. Smith allowed four runs on five hits (three earned), fanned three and had three walks."I can throw Austin or Kellen into every single game and be confident that they will give a 100 percent," Bell said. "They both give us an opportunity to win ball games."Ritzler has amassed 27 strikeouts this season."It's been good this year, " Ritzler said. "Throwing strikes and knowing that my defense is behind it. I throw it into the strike zone, but if they hit, I know that my defense is behind me."For coach Coleman, who has seen Ritzler play ball for quite a long time, he has been happy with his progress over the last two years, and for Ritzler to be able to throw four pitches for strikes, in Coleman's mind, that means he is an effective high school pitcher. "I have gotten to watch Logan play for a long time," coach Coleman said. "It's cool to see how much he has grown up. In these last two years, he has gotten to throw the ball more. Thirteen strikeouts is great but I am more concerned about not giving free bases and the walks staying at one."Calvert will host Lakota (10-6, 8-3) today."Lakota is good enough to beat anybody," coach Coleman said. "I know we have three tough games left in league left, but we are focused on Lakota."