OTTAWA HILLS — University of Findlay-bound Ottawa Hills senior southpaw pitcher Sebastian Stevens no-hit Perrysburg for three innings, then the Yellow Jackets’ bats started getting to him in the fourth.
In the fifth, Perrysburg’s No. 1 hitter, Connor Kessinger, belted a 310-foot home run that barely cleared the left field fence, tying the game at 3-3. Kessinger didn’t even think his shot was going to reach the fence.
“Actually, I thought I flew out to left and I guess it just got some wind or something and got over the fence, which is great,” Kessinger said.
“That was great, especially after going through the order the first couple times and not being able to get anything really going. It was good to get the boys going and get the energy up.”
Two batters later, University of Toledo-bound Perrysburg senior Matt Hubbard belted a shot up the middle, scoring Kessinger to give Perrysburg a 4-3 lead they would not relinquish.
After that, the floodgates opened as the Yellow Jackets scored six runs in the fifth and added three more in the sixth to defeat Ottawa Hills, 10-3, at Chris Hardman Field Friday.
After getting their first hit in the fourth inning, a base hit to center field by Braxton Mefferd, the Yellow Jackets belted out five hits in the fifth inning and three in the sixth.
“Hits are definitely contagious. One hit leads to multiple,” Kessinger said.
Perrysburg coach Dave Hall said it started with the Yellow Jackets’ lead-off hitter in the first inning, Trent Bezek. Bezek hit a hard line drive on the first pitch of the game, but it was nabbed by Ottawa Hills shortstop Jackson Snyder. However, that set the stage.
“Trent jumped on him that first pitch fastball, and then he started pitching backwards, and it took us until the second time to adjust ro him pitching backwards,” Hall said.
“But I thought we made him throw a lot of pitches, and we just thought we could get something going, and I thought he just sort of ran out of gas. After Kessinger’s home run, then the floodgates opened.”
Kessinger added, “We all started to see what he was doing and how he was working us and we were able to make some adjustments and put some runs up.”
In the sixth, Perrysburg’s No. 3 hitter, Brayden Heitmeyer belted a 340-foot home run over the left field fence to complete the offensive onslaught. When Heitmeyer made contact, Kessinger knew it would be a longer home run than his.
“I was on third when that happened, and I didn’t even tag. I said, ‘That is way out,’” Kessinger said.
Meanwhile, Perrysburg sophomore southpaw pitcher Tyler Palmer was cool on the mound, despite giving up three runs in the third, to get the win. Palmer struck out two, walked three, allowed four hits and three runs over six innings, throwing 82 pitches, including 57 for strikes.
“He had a good year as a freshman, and he’s just unflappable,” Hall said. “He knows how to pitch. He gets the ball where he wants it, he holds runners. He’s a pitcher. He’s not a thrower by any means. He’s going to eventually have a lot more velocity, but right now he just knows how to pitch.
“Then Mefferd just comes in and throws heat and has the nasty curve ball. We like him,” Hall continued.
Mefferd closed in the seventh, striking out the side, although two Green Bears reached, including Rocco Pillarelli on an error and his brother Reddik Pillarelli was hit by a pitch, but neither scored.
Stevens took the loss, striking out seven, walking five, allowing four hits and five earned runs through 4.1 innings. Cooper Eidenier pitched 2.2 innings of relief, striking out two, walking one, allowing four hits and three earned runs.
Kessinger led Perrysburg at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a stolen base and two RBI, but he reached base on all four plate appearances, including once on an error and once by walking, scoring three times.
Heitmeyer was 2-for-4 with two RBI and scored twice, and getting base hits for Perrysburg were Hubbard, Mefferd, Trent Bezek, and Parker Faris.
For Ottawa Hills, Stevens was 2-for-2 with a double and two RBI, and Reddick Pillarelli and Luke Gnepper had base hits.
Perrysburg improves to 3-0 while Ottawa Hills falls to 1-2, but those two losses came on back-to-back nights hosting two schools from the Northern Lakes League big-school Buckeye Division, Findlay and Perrysburg.
Coach Chris Hardman, whose team was a Division III state semifinalist last year, says his teams have never been afraid to play the bigger schools, as long as they have good baseball programs.
Another reason the Yellow Jackets and Green Bears schedule each other every year is the bond between two coaches — Hardman and Hall have over 80 years combined coaching experience between them and over 1,400 wins.
“We do that all the time. That’s baseball,” Hardman said. “We play good people because we think it makes it better in our league and as we go forth in the tournament.
“I don’t mind losing games in March to good people if it helps us get better. They played great, they pitched great, and they squared the ball up better than we did.”
