Besser shines as Stars repeat

BERNE — For four innings, Grant Besser and Wyatt Geesaman were locked in a pitcher’s duel.

Neither budged.

In the home half of the fifth, the Starfires broke through. The Patriots never answered.

Besser had another solid outing on the mound, but his two-run single in the fifth inning proved to be the difference as the South Adams High School baseball team defended its Allen County Athletic Conference championship with a 4-0 victory over the Jay County Patriots.

The Class 2A No. 6 Starfires end ACAC play at 5-1 and move to 16-4 on the season. The Patriots dip to 13-3 (3-1 ACAC).

Back-to-back walks from Tim Davidson and AJ Dull to lead off the fifth inning put two on for South Adams, and Alex Gorney put down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners.

Besser, who finished with two singles, knocked in Davidson and Dull for a 2-0 SAHS lead. He later scored on a wild pitch and a ground out.

South Adams pushed across an insurance run in the sixth for more cushion.

Besser struck out every spot in the Patriot lineup but one, fanning 16 while going 6 2/3 innings. He scattered three hits and didn’t issue a walk for the win.

Geesaman allowed three earned runs on two hits in five innings. He struck out 10 and walked six.



FR comes up short

BELLFONTAINE, Ohio — The Fort Recovery baseball team broke the shutout in its final trip to the plate on Tuesday but had its rally fall short in a 3-2 loss to the host Benjamin Logan Raiders.

Fort Recovery (11-11) gave up two runs in the home half of the second inning, and the Raiders added another run in the fifth for a relatively comfortable lead.

After three consecutive singles by Regan Martin, Ryne Post and Riley Post to start the seventh inning, Ian Homan hit a two-run single to cut the deficit to just one. Fort Recovery was unable to keep the rally going as it dipped to .500 on the year.

Homan and Martin finished with two hits each for the Tribe. Garrett Faller also singled.

Kody Shinabery was credited with the loss, allowing three earned runs on seven hits over five innings. He struck out two and walked one.



Stars hang on

The South Adams junior varsity baseball team hung on for a 9-6 win over Jay County on Tuesday.

South Adams (8-7) scored six runs in the top of the third inning and was out front 8-0 heading to the bottom of the fourth. That’s when Jay County (6-8-1) had a big frame of its own as it pushed across six runs in trimming the margin to 8-6.

The Starfires tacked on one more run in the fifth and held on over the final 2 1/2 innings for the win.

Cameron Pogue, Colin Subler, Sam Plattner, Landan Lynch and Austin Gorney all singled for the Starfires. Gorney got the win, lasting three innings with eight strikeouts.

Kess McBride had two hits for Jay County, which also got a double from Kade Shannon. Gavin Myers and Sam Dunlavay both singled as well.



Inman edges Lions

Inman U-Loc squeaked by with a 3-2 win over Lions Club in the Willie Mays division of Portland Junior League on Tuesday.

Grant Wendel singled, doubled, knocked in an RBI and scored twice for Inman. Nick Laux and Carter Hartman both singled as well.

Wes Wenning ripped a triple, a single and scored twice in the loss for Lions Club. Alex Miller also tripled, and Skyler Esparza collected a single.



PG beats Optimist

PG-14 earned an 11-6 victory against Portland Optimist on Tuesday in PJL’s Willie Mays action.

Izzie McAbee had an inside-the-park home run for PG-14, which also got a triple and a single from both Leighton Brown and Rhysin Blowers. Maddox Huffman hit a triple and Nick Snow doubled.

Jayden Harrell had the only hit for Optimist. Max Klopfenstein drew a pair of walks and scored twice, and Carson Busick walked twice as well. Hayden Ison, Dougie Cox, Busick and Harrell all scored runs.