By Nicholas Huenefeld

Special to the Sentinel-Tribune

PEMBERVILLE — Clutch hitting, great defense and a shutout performance on the mound helped the Eastwood baseball team produce a 7-0 victory at home over Lake on Friday.

In a battle of the Northern Buckeye Conference’s top two teams, the Eagles (16-2, 8-2 NBC) picked up their third consecutive win 18 days after a scary outfield collision halted the first matchup between the two teams in Millbury.

“(Kadyn) Donnell in the outfield, incredible,” Eastwood coach Kevin Leady said. “He had a great game. Paul (Lautzenheiser had a great game. Xander’s (Greulich) two-out hit. This was an all-around great team game.”

Paul Lautzenheiser was dominant on the mound for Eastwood as the righty recorded a complete game shutout to give his team a half-game lead in the NBC standings over the Flyers (17-3, 7-2).

“My outside fastball was working really well for me,” Lautzenheiser said. “Being able to put it there where I wanted, that worked every time. The biggest thing for us as a team the past few games has been our energy. I think that was definitely a huge part today.”

Lake, which entered the game ranked fifth in the latest state poll, managed just four hits offensively off Lautzenheiser, including a 2-for-3 performance from Jack Sobczak.

Things, however, may have turned out differently on Friday if not for a momentum-swinging play in the first inning.

With one out and a runner on third after a walk, sacrifice bunt and wild pitch, Lake’s Gavin Kohlhofer attempted to score on another ball in the dirt, but the Eagles recorded the putout at the plate on the closest of calls.

“We went from having a lot of energy in our dugout to none, per se, and I just felt like we never really recovered from that,” Lake coach Casey Witt said.

In the bottom half, Drew Kachmarik’s one-out single through the left side gave Eastwood a 1-0 lead as the game experienced a two-run momentum swinging moment.

“At that point, you get a little relaxation,” Leady said. “You want to keep the pedal on the metal, but it’s nice being the first team to score.

Eastwood, the 11th-ranked team in the state, doubled its lead in the third with a two-out single to left from Xander Greulich. It was a key add-on run for the Eagles, who had just recorded two consecutive outs after a leadoff double from Kadyn Donnell.

“The stuff that we’ve been able to do to teams offensively all year, they turned around and did to us,” Witt said. “I just told our guys after the game that the silver lining in all of this, is that we’re still in control of all our goals. And it’s a good place to be I guess given the past couple hours.”

In the top of the fourth, Lake attempted to mount a two-out rally as Ryan Wagner reached with two outs on an error. Sobczak then drove a single to the gap in right center that should have put runners on the corners, but he was thrown out at second on an 8-4-6 relay.

“With games like this, games like Lake and the big tournament games, you have that little feel in your belly and that’s okay,” Leady said. “We tell our kids that’s okay to have, (but) get into the flow of the game and it will go away.

“Playing Lake you’re always going to have a battle but honestly we had a simple approach with our guys – that everything started with Paul. If Paul went out and gave us his best and we backed him, we felt like we had a real shot. Then we got to put the pressure on them at the plate.”

The Eagles used that added momentum to seize full control. With two on and two outs in the fourth, Donnell and Andrew Badenhop recorded back-to-back RBI singles. Kachmarik then delivered a two-run double to left as Eastwood added four in the frame.

After starting the relay in the fourth, Donnell wasn’t done defensively as the centerfielder made a diving catch to end Lake’s fifth. Lautzenheiser followed by retiring seven of the final eight batters he faced.

Eastwood’s 2-3-4 trio in the lineup combined to hit 8-for-12 with three runs and six knocked in. Leadoff hitter Colton Woodward plated two runs, as well.

Behind those performances, the Eagles have now outscored their opponents 25-1 over the past three games.

“One through four, we really swung that thing today and moved it around,” Leady said. “The bottom of the order also came up with some pretty big hits. We had some two out hits and (succeeded in) the three phases we talk about. Pitching and defense, that’s where everything starts, and then battling up at the plate. I’ll take seven runs. One an inning is pretty solid.”

The two teams will conclude its suspended game from the previous matchup on May 15 in what could decide the NBC title. The game will resume with Lake hitting with no outs in a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the seventh.

“We talked with our kids, moving into May, we want to start playing our best baseball,” Leady said. “Hopefully we still have some better baseball coming down the road. The league, the race, whatever, we can only control what we can control.”