Leopards Win 7th Straight Sectional Title, De-Flight Falcons 10-0
FULL VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
Louisville 10, Fairless 0, 6 innings
Riley Groves pitched a six inning shutout and delivered the game-ending RBI in the bottom of the sixth to lead the Leopards to a 10-0 6 inning win over the Fairless Falcons at the Field of Dreams Friday evening. Jon Crank also exploded at the plate going 4-for-4 with a 3-run triple and 4 RBI’s to help Louisville win their seventh straight Sectional Championship.
“It’s a beautiful day to win,” Assistant Coach Tom Siegfried prior to the Leopards first at bat. He could not have been more right as Louisville came out of the gate on fire at the plate. Kyle White launched a double to center to lead-off the the Louisville first. Three batters later Crank delivered a 1-out RBI single to left field that scored Connor Ruffier from second base. Chad Neff then mimicked Crank by singling to left and scoring Mike Kelly from second. Finally, Dillon Stertzbach’s sacrifice fly to right field scored Crank from third to put the Leps up 3-0.
That was really all the offense Louisville would need as Groves continued his dominance on the mound. Groves pitched a 4-hit shutout and struck out three en rout to his ninth win of the season (9-0). When a Falcon reached third in the opening inning, Groves responded by striking out the next batter to end the threat. When Groves surrendered a walk to start the second inning, he used a swift throw to first to pick-off the runner aboard. In the second, third, and fourth innings he faced 9 batters and got 9 outs.
The Falcons greatest threat to score came in the top of the sixth when Taylor Mackey singled to center. Mike Durben attempted to advance home from second on the play, but the center fielder White delivered a bullet to the catcher Neff who applied the tag to disallow the run and end the inning.
Fairless would not bat again as Louisville mercied them in the bottom of the sixth. Stertzbach slapped a 2-out infield single to short, stole second, and advanced to third base via an overthrow. Then Groves tapped a grounder to short and beat out the throw at first allowing Stertzbach to score and end the game. 10-0 Leopards.
Although it officially ended in the sixth, Louisville put the game away long before when they tallied four runs in the third to make it 7-0. With the bases loaded, Kelly tapped a short grounder to third base and the Fairless player misfielded it allowing Alex Hollifield to advance home and everyone to move up a base. Then Crank crushed a triple to center to clear the bases that once stationed White, Ruffier, and Kelly.
The Leps other two runs came in the fifth inning. An RBI groundout by White brought home Joey Duckworth and allowed Hollifield to reach second. Hollifield then stole third and scored on an overthrow. Duckworth, Hollifield, and Groves all had 2 hits a piece during Louisville’s 14-hit performance.
With Alliance defeating Coventry 2-1, the Leps will face the Aviators in the District Semifinals on Thursday, May 17 at 5:00 at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium. Louisville split with Alliance during the regular season.
Other Scores from DII Canton District:
Canton South 8, Northwest 3
Triway 7, Marlington 6
May 17 Schedule: Canton South Vs. Triway, 2:00 | Louisville Vs. Alliance, 5:00
PICTURES
Box Score
Team 123-456–R-H-E
Fairless 000-000–0-4-4
Louisville 300-421–10-14-2
Fairless Falcons Batting
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Matheson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| T Widder | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| M Durben | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J Hammel | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| T Mackey | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| J Knight | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| R Tucker | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| D Kuecher | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| M Long | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 20 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
Fairless Falcons Pitching
| Pitching | O | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | S% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J Knight | 14 | 4.2 | 11 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 59.3% |
| D Kuecher | 3 | 1.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 66.7% |
| Totals | 17 | 5.2 | 14 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 60.3% |
Louisville Leopards Batting
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| K White | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| C Ruffier | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| M Kelly | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| J Crank | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| C Neff | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| D Stertzbaugh | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| R Groves | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| J Duckworth | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| A Hollifield | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 30 | 10 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 4 |
Louisville Leopards Pitching
| Pitching | O | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | S% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R Groves | 18 | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 56.8% |
| Totals | 18 | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 56.8% |
Records: Louisville 18-6
NEXT UP: The Leopards will finish their game at Marlington on Tuesday, May 15 at 4:30 PM. The game was suspended in the bottom of the third with the Dukes leading 5-0. Louisville’s next tournament game will be on Thursday, May 17 against Alliance at 5:00 PM at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium in Canton.
