SYLVANIA — Northview baseball concluded it’s two day, two-game sweep over Perrysburg Tuesday, defeating the Yellow Jackets, 6-1, in Northern Lakes League baseball.
The Wildcats’ win came one day after they won, 11-1, at Perrysburg’s Jim Leyland Field on Monday, outscoring the Jackets 17-2 over the two games.
The Yellow Jackets did not have an extra base in either game, Perrysburg pitchers combined to walk 10 batters, and in the field the Jackets committed seven errors.
Northview remains unbeaten at 8-0 and 3-0 in the NLL Buckeye Division, while Perrysburg falls to 7-4 and 2-3.
Perrysburg veteran coach Dave Hall says his team must turn its fortunes around before digging too big of a hole in league play.
“We’ve got to stick together, we’ve got to get better, we have to play better in tight situations. They got bases loaded and they got base hits, we got guys on base and we rolled the ball over.
“Our pitching the last two days we just walked too many people. You are not going to win close games in this league with walking people. We had eight yesterday, one in a key situation in that third inning that led to runs, and we’ve got to hit the ball better than what we did,” Hall continued.
Northview coach Aaron Tullis described the two-day result as a milestone series win over a perennially strong program.
“That’s a top of the tier, top of the echelon team in our league, so anytime you can beat them twice in a season, it’s a successful little series here,” Tullis said.
“Coach Hall is the all-time winner, a legend who we take a lot of our stuff from. I’m proud of our guys for coming away with grit, digging in, and playing our style of baseball.”
On Monday, Northview not only took advantage of eight walks, but also three errors, only outhitting Perrysburg, 10-6.
Meanwhile, Northview junior southpaw pitcher Roman McKarus struck out two, walked one and allowed six hits and one run, scored by Perrysburg in the third inning after the Wildcats had built a 7-0 lead.
Junior Connor Kessinger led Perrysburg at the plate, going 2-for-2 and seniors Trent Bezek, Matt Hubbard, Abram Hire and junior Landon Winters had base hits.
Sophomore Tyler Palmer started on the mound for the Jackets, but lasted just two innings. Juniors Grant Petteys and Aaron Banks, and sophomore Brayden Heitmeyer all pitched in relief, but the only one not to give up an earned run was Banks.
For Northview, McKarus was 2-for-2 with a triple, double, and three RBIs, senior Keegan Draper and junior Colin Tomanski were both 2-for-3, and sophomore Charlie Paulson doubled. Senior Christian Berling and sophomore Carson Holmes had base hits.
On Tuesday, Northview senior right-handed pitcher Vin Bentley went the distance, striking out three, walking one, and he did not give up an earned run. Two errors led to Perrysburg’s only run in the seventh inning.
“He’s as good as we’ve ever had here,” Tullis said. “He does a good job of getting the ball in the zone.”
in a game that saw a combined nine errors, five by Northview and four by Perrysburg, the Wildcats got to the Yellow Jackets’ ace, Parker Faris, by scoring three runs in the bottom of the second.
After the Wildcats were up 6-0, Winters scored Perrysburg’s only run in the top of the seventh. He reached on a fielder’s choice, advanced when Kessinger and Heitmeyer reached on errors, and scored when Hubbard was hit by a pitch.
Northview only outhit Perrysburg, 8-5, with the Jackets getting base hits from Bezek, Heitmeyer, Hubbard, junior Braxton Mefferd, and senior Carter Stanton.
For the Wildcats, Paulson and Holmes were both 2-for-3 and Tomanski, freshman Conner Draper, junior Preston Gehring, and junior Josh Sprenger had base hits.
Hall is optimistic about the new league format, which has teams in the same division playing each other on back-to-back days so a team cannot use the same pitcher in both games.
Even though the Wildcats are unbeaten in the league, they have only played three league games, and Hall notes there is plenty of room yet in the schedule for any team in the league to slip up in a two-game series.
Hall said you also have to take advantage of the one game each team plays against members of the other division in the NLL, which also count toward the league standings. This Friday, the Jackets host Fremont Ross of the NLL Cardinal Division.
“The key is with this new setup, I think they can drop two games to a team if they have a bad week, too,” Hall said. “So, Friday (against Ross) becomes really big. We have to stay within it.
“Everybody is new with this format. They (Northview) have to play everybody yet. Whitmer can beat you twice, we got lucky and split with them, and we’ll see — 9-5 (record) might win this thing, who knows?
“It’s different playing back-to-back. We are still learning. There is a big learning curve, and for an old guy (like me) who is trying to learn, too,” added Hall, trying to put a smile on his face.
