Indians reach final

COLDWATER, Ohio — The Indians will get another crack at Minster.
Fort Recovery High School’s baseball team defeated the Marion Local Flyers 4-0 Wednesday in the Division IV district semifinal at Coldwater.
The win sets up a rematch of the May 1 game in which the Wildcats snapped the Indians’ 17-game winning streak to begin the season. Minster knocked off Spencerville 1-0 in the first semifinal Wednesday behind a no-hit effort from Josh Nixon. The district championship game is 7 p.m. Saturday.
Senior Derek Backs said he’s been chomping at the bit to get another shot at Minster.
“We are pumped,” he said. Backs had a single, a double and scored the only run the Indians needed Wednesday against the Flyers. “Ever since they beat us we’ve been looking forward to it.”
The third-ranked Indians (22-5) understood that to get to Minster, they first had to beat the Flyers (9-17).
Thanks to a one-hit effort from pitchers Jackson Hobbs and Cole Wendel, Fort Recovery made easy work of its Midwest Athletic Conference rival.
Hobbs, who set a school record with a 0.76 earned run average last season, started and tossed four innings of no-hit ball. He retired the first 10 batters of the game, and was only threatened once, with two outs in the third.

The junior hit Hunter Wilker, who then swiped second as FRHS catcher Chase Bruns’ throw was off the mark. Ryan Thobe reached on a dropped third strike and moved up 90 feet on a stolen base. With two runners in scoring position, Ethan Nietfeld lined to Jacob Homan to get Hobbs out of the jam.
Hobbs, who improved to 8-1 on the season with a 0.59 ERA — he’s allowed five earned runs in 55 2/3 innings — struck out four and walked none.
Wendel came in for the fifth inning, promptly retiring the first four batters he faced before Nietfield broke up the attempt at a combined no-hitter with a one-out single down the left field line.
“Our pitching was great,” said FRHS coach Jerry Kaup. “Jackson Hobbs (was) in control. They threatened one time and he was able to put out that fire.
“I don’t think Cole ever felt threatened, and our defense played well. We were able to manufacture, scratch out a couple runs and we were able to move on.”
Backs scored the first run of the game following his leadoff double in the second inning. Homan walked, and Kyle Schroer laid down a sacrifice bunt to put runners at second and third with no outs. Nate Lochtefeld, who added a single in the fourth, bounced out to Nietfeld at second to score Backs.
It was the only run necessary for the Indians to get the victory, but they pushed across runs in each of the third, fourth and sixth innings for good measure.
Wendel beat out an infield hit with two outs in the third and scored on back-to-back errors. Stammen hit a single to lead off the fifth and moved to second on Wendel’s sacrifice bunt. Stammen then swiped third for his 26th stolen base of the season — he’s one shy of his school record he set last season — and slid into home on a passed ball for a 3-0 Fort Recovery lead.
Ben Will gave the Indians a four-run advantage when he scored from second on an errant pickoff attempt at first by Marion Local pitcher Aaron Nietfeld.
Fort Recovery used just about everything in its offensive arsenal — stolen bases, sacrifice bunts, hit and run — to put pressure on the Flyer defense. Kaup said it’s the ability to do those types of things that will lead to success, especially in the postseason.
“Those things are going to be critical,” he said. “Making those actually happen, those are the teams that are going to move on.
“And we’re hoping that’s us.”
With Minster up Saturday, Kaup said he’s hoping for a different outcome this time around. The Wildcats capitalized on an error in a 2-0 victory May 1 in Fort Recovery, and outlasted the Tribe in a pair of extra-inning victories last season. Minster beat Fort Recovery 5-3 in 10 innings in the district semifinal a year ago.
The Indians’ last appearance in the district final also came against Minster. FRHS trailed the Wildcats by seven before scoring six times in the bottom of the seventh inning and getting the tying run to second base only to have its rally fall short in a 7-6 defeat.
Fort Recovery’s last district championship was 1953, the same year the Indians finished as state runner-up.
“Minster is a good program,” Kaup said. “Their kids understand baseball and they know how to win … and they accept losing. We’re hoping they are going to accept losing.
“We think it’s going to be competitive. We’re hoping it’s competitive. That’s what we expect (and) we’re hoping to come out on top.”