Tournament Roundup: Zanesville's rally falls short
ZANESVILLE — A rough first inning put 17th seed Zanesville in a 4-0 deficit to open Saturday's action at Jay Payton Field.
The host Blue Devils pulled within 7-5 entering the final inning, but 19th seed Union Local scored seven in the top of the seventh to earn a 14-6 victory in the Division II sectional tournament.
The Jets advanced to face top seed Indian Valley at 5 p.m. Tuesday, while Zanesville finished 8-17.
The first four Jets reached to open the game, as a pair of singles and a walk set up Evan White's bases-clearing double for a 3-0 lead. He scored on a two-out error for the 4-0 lead.
The Blue Devils got on the board in the third when Kaden Mayle singled home Clayton Tredway, but the Jets answered on Jake Toohey's two-run blast in the fourth.
A 90-minute weather delay soon followed, and when it resumed in the fourth, the Jets added a run on a fielder's choice for a 7-1 advantage.
Zanesville chipped away in the fifth. Danny Licon led off with a double and Tredway walked to start the inning. Canon Mercer followed with a RBI sac fly to score Licon, and an error on the throw in from center field went out of play, allowing Tredway to come home to make it 7-3.
Three straight singles to start the sixth by Slade Young, Caleb Underwood and Avery Mohler had the Blue Devils in position to pull closer. Preston Moorehead followed with a single to score Young, and Underwood came home on Licon's sac fly. But, Mohler was thrown out at third when the ball got away from the Union Local catcher, and a strikeout ended the threat.
The Jets answered with the seven-run seventh, highlighted by Toohey's two-run double.
Whiteman, Young and Underwood each had two hits for the Zanesville offense, while Preston Moorehead took the loss, giving up four runs on five hits in the first inning.
Toohey had three hits and four RBIs, Billy Schlabach collected three hits and scored three times and White, Logan Hess and Drake Ault each had two hits for the Jets.
Dylan Higgenbotham went five innings for the victory, giving up five runs on seven hits.
West Holmes 20, Maysville 2 (5 inn.): The 13th seeded Knights led 17-1 after two innings in ending the Panthers' season in Division II sectional play.
West Holmes will play at second seed Tri-Valley at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Winning pitcher Nick Ginsburg fanned eight and allowed two hits in four innings, while Rudy Hershberger had three hits and Brady Smith collected four RBIs.
Hunter Aurand, Carson Tanner and Mathew Weaver also had two hits apiece for the Knights.
No leaders were available for Maysville.
Division IV
Malvern 10, Rosecrans 4: The eighth-seeded Hornets used a six-run fifth to advance in sectional play at Gant Stadium.
The Bishops were up 3-1, as a two Malvern errors led to a three-run third for Rosecrans.
But, a pair of walks and a Rosecrans error aided the start of the Hornets' fifth. Tristan Phillips followed with a two-run single to make it 4-3, Dylan Phillips tripled home two runs and Aystin Passio's run-scoring single made it 7-3.
Xander Daniels ripped a RBI single in the bottom of the fifth for the Bishops, but Connor Lefevre hit a two-run triple and Tristan Phillips doubled him home in the sixth to provide the final margin of victory for the Hornets, who advance to play on Wednesday at fourth seed Frontier.
Malakai Clark had two of the Bishops' five hits, Drew Dollings hit a triple and Weston Hartman took the loss after giving up seven runs on three hits with eight strikeouts and six walks in 4 1/3 innings.
Winning pitcher Tristan Phillips scattered five hits with five strikeouts and four walks in five innings. He also went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and Johnny Walker had four strikeouts in two scoreless innings of relief.
bhannahs@gannett.com
Twitter: @brandonhannahs
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Tournament Roundup: Zanesville's rally falls short