VERSAILLES – The Versailles Tigers defeated the Milton-Union Bulldogs 5-0 in first-round OHSAA DIII baseball tournament action.
“It’s tournament so you’re going to get some of their better guys,” said Versailles coach Brad Koopman. “We had to fight a little bit for this one.”
“The three at the top in our order didn’t do a lot at the plate,” Koopman added. “We had other guys step up. Jace came up with a couple of big hits, and this team is like that. There is someone who will step up and fill that void.”
Jace Watren knocked a run-scoring single to center sending Ross Francis home in the bottom of the second inning to put the Tigers on the board giving Versailles an early 1-0 lead.
Versailles took advantage of Ross Francis, taking first by a hit batsman, a Joel Gehret bunt single, and a Chase Monnin RBI single to left, all coming with no outs in the bottom of the fourth to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.
With Versailles bases empty and two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Monnin singled to center, Matt Subler’s grounder to third was played for an error, followed by a Watren two-run double to left upping the Tigers’ lead to 4-0.
“Jace was huge, especially in some tough situations,” Koopman stated. “He’s been a tough out all year.”
Versailles used a Bulldogs misque to tack on an insurance run with Michael Osborne’s grounder played for an error, scoring Watren with the game’s fifth and final Tigers’ run.
“We didn’t hit overly bad today,” said Coach Koopman. “We put the ball in play, hit the ball hard, and they just made some plays. That inning, we caught a couple of breaks and got some to fall and hit it hard at somebody, and they kicked it around a little bit.”
Versailles’ ace, AJ Griesdorn, went the distance to earn the shutout Versailles win, allowing no runs, three hits, three walks, and striking out three over seven innings of work.
“He struggled a little bit, but if that is your struggle then we’re doing all right because he battled through it, took care of it and the defense picked him up,” said Koopman.
Peyton Nichols took the loss for the Bulldogs. The starting pitcher went six innings, surrendering five runs, of which two runs were earned on five hits, three walks, and four strikeouts.
Watren led Versailles going 2-3 with three RBI from the eighth spot in the lineup. Chase Monnin also collected two hits for the Tigers.
Versailles was perfect in the field playing error-free ball while turning three double plays on the day.
“Boys played solid, came after it today, and fielded really well,” Coach Koopman said.
BOX SCORE
123 456 7 R H E
000 000 0 0 3 2 Milton-Union
010 103 X 5 5 0 Versailles
