GLANDORF - Putnam and Paulding county ACME baseball tournaments got underway this past weekend. After Sunday's action at Titan Field in Glandorf, Antwerp and Miller City remained undefeated, with Fort Jennings being eliminated.

The Ottoville Big Green were coming off a big Saturday win versus host Ottawa-Glandorf and took on the Antwerp Archers in the winners' bracket.

 

Antwerp got the better of the Big Green with an 8-5 triumph.

 

Both teams got on the board in the first frame with the Green plating two runs - a home run by Aaron Wehri, knocking in Jordan Schimmoeller (2 runs scored), who had singled.

 

The Archers did one better; scoring three times.

 

That lead was short-lived as the Big Green rallied for three in the second as Justin Fischer and Logan Kaverman both singled and scored, giving the Green a 5-3 lead.

 

Antwerp delivered four runs in the fourth and tacked on an insurance run in the sixth to account for the victory and a date on Wednesday against Miller City.

 

The loss sent Ottoville to a contest on Wednesday against the winner of Columbus Grove and Leipsic.

Score by Innings

Ottoville     2 3 0    0 0 0    0 - 5  5

 

Antwerp    3 0 0    4 0 1    x - 8  8

 

Sunday ended with one of the best games of the day with a battle of the Wildcats with Miller City taking on Kalida. Miller City pitcher Lee Drummelsmith struck out 13 batters in the game but it almost wasn't enough.

 

Both Wildcats battled down to the bottom of the seventh when Brent Niese spoiled a Kalida comeback with one of the quirkiest plays to win a game. With runners on first and third and none out, Niese hit a pop up to second that eluded the Kalida second baseman and fell untouched, scoring the winning run from third, giving Miller City a thrilling 6-5 victory.

 

Kalida went into the final frame down 4-1 with the look of defeat a certainty. Drummelsmith had pitched a masterful game but the Maroon and Gold 'Cats weren't ready to throw in the towel. The first five batters reached, with four runs crossing the plate.

 

Cody Spicer had the big hit with a lead-taking double off of relief pitcher Brent Hermiller, giving Kalida new life and turning the momentum in its direction.

 

In the bottom of the inning, the impetus went back the way of Miller City as they put the first four batters on with the winning hit coming off the bat of Niese.

 

Drummelsmith struck out five of the first nine batters he faced and appeared to be on cruise control as the game went on.

 

Kalida scored the first run of the contest in the top of the third when Ryan Unverferth walked and came across on a Paul Utendorf double.

 

Miller City took the lead in the fifth with a walk, stolen base and a pair of singles. They added to the lead in yet another quirky way when Vennekotter was balked home, making it a 3-1 score. Niese scored when Jarod Niese reached on an error, making it a 4-1 contest heading into the wild seventh.

 

The win sends Miller City to the winners' bracket championship against the Archers on Wednesday night. Kalida faces the winner of Ottawa-Glandorf and Pandora-Gilboa on Tuesday evening.

Score by Innings:

Kalida    0 0 1    0 0 0    4 - 5 6 4

 

Miller City    0 0 0    0 2 2    2 - 6 7 4

 

In Sunday's opener, either Fort Jennings or Leipsic would be eliminated.

 

The Vikings of Leipsic got on the board early, scoring two in the first, and cruised to a 6-2 victory over their Putnam County League rival.

 

Drew Mesker had the lone big blow for the Musketeers, sending a ball over the right-center field wall in the fourth inning, while Jay Maag had a 4-for-4 performance, scoring once for the Vikings.

 

The first four batters of the game reached for Leipsic, with Derek Mangas and Corey Burgess both scoring, making it a 2-0 contest after one.

 

The Vikings added one more run in the second after a leadoff double by Mangas and a run-scoring hit by Burgess stretched the lead to 3-0.

 

The bottom of the second began promising for the Musketeers when Nolan Niedert reached on an error and later scored on a double by Ryan Schuerman, cutting the deficit to 3-1.

 

Leipisc plated three runs in the fourth, sending eight batters to the plate.

 

Mesker's bomb gave Jennings a spark in its half of the frame but after a Niedert single, the Musketeers would put just one more runner on; that being a walk in the fifth.

 

Leipsic's win sets up a bout with Columbus Grove this evening at 6 p.m. at Miller City.

Score by Innings:

Ft. Jennings     0 1 0    1 0 0    0 - 2 4 4

 

Leipsic        2 1 0    3 0 0    x - 6 11 2

 

Antwerp sent error-plagued Fort Jennings into the losers' bracket Saturday morning on the wrong end of a 6-1 score.

 

The Musketeers outhit the Archers 4-3 but seven errors (to none for the Archers) were too much.

 

The Musketeers opened up an early 1-0 lead with a run in the first inning but six errors in the fourth ended spelled doom for the Orange and Black.

 

Trevor Von Sossan led off the game with a single and scored on a Jared Horstman single, giving Jennings an early 1-0 advantage.

 

The Archers tied things up in the second when Mike Stewart was hit by a pitch and scored when John Rindahl reached on an error, making it a 1-1 contest.

 

Antwerp took the lead in the third as Bryson North reached on an error and came around to score on a single by Mike Stewart, putting Antwerp in the lead 2-1.

 

The Archers exploded for four runs in the fourth when four consecutive batters reached via the miscue.

 

Antwerp pitcher Beau Kobee had a masterful performance on the mound, retiring 13 of the last 14 batters he faced, sending the Archers to their Sunday afternoon contest against Ottoville.

Score by Innings:

Antwerp        1 0 1    4 0 0    0 - 6 3 0

 

Ft. Jennings     1 0 0    0 0 0    0 - 1 4 7

 

In the second contest, the Big Green overcame a 3-0 deficit in the bottom of the third with a 5 spot and went on to a 9-4 triumph over Ottawa-Glandorf.

 

The big blow in the third was a 3-run double to right-center by Cody Delong and a double to left by Travis Maag plated Delong.

 

O-G had had three hits, a walk and a hit batter in the first two innings but did not score: a caught-stealing and a pickoff stymied them.

 

The Titans scored three times in the third courtesy of a 3-run double by losing pitcher Nick Leatherman.

 

O-G left the sacks full in the fourth.

 

Two singles, a walk, an error, a wild pitch and a double steal accounted for three Green and Gold tallies in the fourth.

 

An attempted double steal in the O-G fifth resulted in Brian Michel being thrown out at home for the third out.

 

The Titans scored once in the sixth but once more left the bases loaded.

 

A double by Aaron Wehri scored Matt Honigford (2-for-4, 3 runs scored, 2 steals) in the Big Green half to account for the final score.

 

Schimmoeller - the southpaw who got the win - went 3-for-4 (1 run, 1 steal) for Ottoville, while Tyler Turnwald went 2-for-3 (1 run, 1 RBI, sacrifice).

 

Cory Ellerbrock went 3-for-4 (1 run, hit by pitch) for the Titans, with Alex Selhorst (1 walk) and Marcus VonderEmbse (1 run, stolen base) going 2-for-3. That put Ottoville into Sunday's matchup with Antwerp.

Score by Innings:

Ott.-Glan.    0 0 3    1 0 0      0 - 4 12 5

 

Ottoville    0 0 5    3 0 1      x - 9  9  0

 

In an afternoon affair, Miller City Jared Niese outdueled Brandon Hovest to give Miller City a 3-2 squeaker over Columbus Grove.

 

Niese gave up eight hits but fanned six. Hovest fanned nine and ceded four hits.

 

An error allowed Brent Hermiller (2-for-3) to score the Wildcats' first run in the top of the first. A fielder's choice by Cody Vennekotter allowed Brett Niese to score for a 2-0 edge.

 

The Wildcats made it 3-0 in the second courtesy of a run-scoring single by Hermiller, plating Drummelsmith.

 

The Bulldogs got within 3-1 in the fifth when Zach Barrientes touched the dish thanks to an infield hit by Matt Jennell (3-for-4).

 

They got within 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh as a 2-out double to left-center by Hovest (2-for-3) got Jennell home. However, Clay Bryan lined out to second for the finisher.

 

The win put Miller City into Sunday's winners' bracket.

Score by Innings:

Miller City     2 1 0    0 0 0    0 - 3 4 1

 

Col. Grove     0 0 0    0 1 0    1 - 2 8 3

 

In Saturday's nightcap, Pandora-Gilboa made things easy for Kalida, committing nine errors, as the Wildcats thrashed the Rockets 9-1.

 

Nick Guisinger (5 innings) and Mike Niemeyer combined for a 2-hitter for the Maroon and Gold.

 

Amos Eutsler walked seven in giving up three earned runs.

 

Kalida scored four times in the second in batting around: four bases-on-balls, a hit, a sacrifice fly (Kristopher Osterhage) and an error.

 

A hit batter (Osterhage) resulted in two errors getting him to score in the third.

 

Three more runs scored in the Wildcat fourth: a fielder's choice (Mike Bockrath), an error and a sacrifice fly (Tyler Verhoff).

 

P-G scored its only run in the fifth: a bases-loaded free pass to Nate Schutz, scoring Lucas Ladden.

 

Kalida made it 9-1 in the fifth, courtesy three miscues, with Niemeyer touching the dish.

 

Seth Swary got on all three times via the walk for the Rockets.

 

The win moved the Wildcats on to Sunday's winners'-bracket matchup.

 

Score by Innings:

 

Pan.-Gil.    0 0 0    0 1 0    0 - 1 2 9

 

Kalida    0 4 1    3 1 0    x - 9 4 4