As the season winds down, Bellefontaine is getting sharper.
The Chieftains won their last home game of the regular season Friday, defeating North Union 5-1 in Central Buckeye Conference crossover baseball action.
They are now 6-11 overall and 5-9 in the CBC.
Spencer Stolly had a strong game on the mound, working six innings. He allowed seven hits, with three walks and six strikeouts.
Sutton Daring finished it off in the seventh, with only one man reaching base.
At the plate, Brody Boy smacked a pair of doubles and drove in all five runs. The first two came in the first and the others in the third.
Stolly and Jose Sandoval had hits, with each scoring twice. Beckham Harman also got a hit.
Bellefontaine head coach Russ Hogue said, “With a young team like we have, it’s nice to see improvement. We’re starting to find our stride, which is good. That’s what you want.”
Stolly retired the leadoff hitter on a flyout to start the game. Ashtin Haubiel drew a walk, then swiped second.
Miles Marlette then belted a ball deep to the alley in right-center for a triple, with Haubiel coming around to score.
Jaxon Mabery walked, but was thrown out by catcher Aven Caudill, and a groundout to second brought Bellefontaine to the plate.
Stolly lined a single to right with one out. After he stole second, Sandoval walked. Boy doubled to right-center, bringing both around.
Caudill then hit a ball hard that was caught by North Union’s right fielder. He threw to second, with Boy not quite making it back in time for the third out.
North Union got a single to shallow center and a walk with two outs in the second, but a flyout by Tyler Krebehenne left them stranded.
Things moved along to the top of the fourth. Jace Phipps shot a single between short and third base with one out. The next batter, Braylen Riffle was retired on a failed bunt attempt. Owen Wills singled to right, moving Phipps into scoring position at third. Krebehenne sent one to deep center, but Boy was able to run it down to keep the Chiefs ahead.
The Wildcats had another chance in the fifth. Haubiel beat out an infield single. A pickoff throw that went off-target allowed him to speed around to third.
Mabery hit a ball to right, which Cayleb Overmann caught. Overmann then fired a perfectly timed throw to Caudill, who reached and tagged Haubiel for the double play.
The first two Bellefontaine hitters in the bottom of the fifth were retired on grounders to third base.
Daring, the leadoff hitter, coaxed a walk, then Stolly was hit by a pitch. Sandoval hustled out an infield single, loading the bases.
Boy took one pitch before smacking a hit into the right field corner. All three Chieftains came around to make it a four-run cushion.
Evan Beery of North Union had a dribbler that stopped just short of third base and beat the throw. He tried to take second, but was cut down.
Daring took the mound for the seventh. The first man reached on an error, but a grounder to second and two fly balls to the left side of the infield brought matters to a close.
Bellefontaine will complete a game with Tecumseh on Monday, then travel to Indian Lake for a contest on Tuesday to wrap up the regular season.
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In other baseball play Friday:
Jonathan Alder 11, Ben Logan 0
Ben Logan was shut out by visiting Jonathan Alder in five innings.
The Pioneers scored one in the first, six in the third, three in the fourth and one in the fifth.
Pitching for the Raiders were Andrew Frederick, AJ Griffith, Cayden Brown and Oliver Morse.
They allowed 14 hits and had 10 walks combined. Griffith and Morse had one strikeout each.
Ben Logan (7-8 CBC, 10-11 overall) is at Tecumseh today at noon. They host Riverside next Thursday.
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Tecumseh 5, Indian Lake 4
NEW CARLISLE — Indian Lake lost to host Tecumseh in extra innings.
The Lakers got one run in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings.
Tecumseh scored four in the sixth to tie it, then won it in the eighth.
Indian Lake is tied with Graham for first in the Mad River division. Both teams are 9-6 in the CBC and 10-8 overall.
Madden Lillard started and pitched five-plus innings, allowing two runs on six hits. He struck out seven.
Cooper Hall pitched 1 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on two hits. Tyler Tidwell threw the rest, with three strikeouts, and took the loss.
Lillard had three hits for the Lakers, with two each by Kolton Cummins, Tidwell and Bryce Burton. RBIs were by Tidwell, Cummins and Hall.
Indian Lake plays at Anna today, then hosts Bellefontaine on Tuesday and West Liberty-Salem next Friday.