Baseball roundup
Patch, Ramstein stay unbeaten with sweeps
The unbeaten Patch Panthers and the Ramstein Royals, the only schools ever to have won European Division I baseball championships, continued their intersecting courses toward this year’s fourth D-I diamond tournament with regional road sweeps Saturday.
Patch, the two-time defending champion, blistered Ansbach 10-0 and 12-2 in Eastern Regional play, and Ramstein downed defending D-II champion Bitburg 5-3 and 8-3 in the West. Each winner, which wrapped up its respective regional title the previous week, will take perfect records into next weekend’s regular-season finales. Ramstein improved to 12-0 overall; Patch advanced to 11-0.
Patch 10-12, Ansbach 0-2: Saturday at Ansbach, All-Europe senior Dylan Measells pitched a complete-game, five-inning one-hitter in the opener, striking out 10, and C.J. Kellogg followed with a route-going five-inning, nine strikeout performance in the nightcap.
All-European Ryan Tannenbaum went three-for-three with a double to back Measells in the opener. Kellogg, Ruben Rodriguez, Jack Smith and Ross Wilson each was two-for-three in a game in which, Patch coach Drake Marlow said by telephone on Saturday, every Patch player hit safely at least once.
Phillip Knigge, who collected the lone hit Measells yielded, took the Game 1 loss.
Ansbach’s bats were a little hotter in Game 2. Losing pitcher T.J. Propp doubled in both Ansbach runs in his two-for-three outing, and his teammate Jose Fuentes also was two-for-three against Kellogg.
Kellogg himself, however, equaled the Ansbach duo’s hit total by going four-for-four, and was further backed offensively by Sean Rittenhouse, three-for-four with a triple, and Austin LeMay, who went two-for-four.
Patch is next scheduled to face visiting Vilseck (6-4) on Saturday; Ansbach completed its regular season 6-6.
Ramstein 5-8, Bitburg 3-3: Caleb Guerrido, Jon Grotelueschen and Jake Van Parys each stroked two hits in Saturday’s opener to allow the 2010 D-I champs to make a winner of starter Dustin Labit, and Grotelueschen pitched a six-inning two-hitter in the nightcap.
Labit, who went two-and-two-thirds innings in the opener before having to leave with an injury, outdueled Bitburg’s All-Europe senior Austin Schmidt. Tyler Hughes came on in relief and picked up the save for Ramstein, striking out five in his three-and-one-third innings.
Schmidt allowed nine hits and three earned runs, and was backed offensively by freshman Colton Lund, who singled and doubled and drove in two runs in his three at-bats.
In Game 2, All-European Grotelueschen doubled during his three-for-four outing and drove in three runs. He was backed by Rylee Moore, who was three-for-four.
Grotelueschen fanned 12 in his six innings of work, but Ramstein trailed 3-1 until a three-run fifth.
Evan Less took the loss for Bitburg (6-4). He struck out five in his five-and-two-thirds innings.
Bitburg is scheduled to close the regular season Saturday at SHAPE; Ramstein is to complete its regular season Saturday at Kaiserslautern.
SHAPE 1-6, Lakenheath 0-5: Saturday at Lakenheath, Clay Coon collected the victory when Jacob Conkrite’s eighth-inning single plated Thomas Muldoon with the Game 1 game-winner, and in the nightcap, Nick Westrick emerged with the victory when James Workman, who had walked, scored on a passed ball.
Workman and Connor Manning each went two-for-two in the nightcap to up SHAPE’s record to 8-2.
Paul Nastav took the loss for Lakenheath (7-5) which is scheduled to host Alconbury in Saturday’s regular-season finale.
Kaiserslautern 8-6, AFNORTH 1-1: Saturday at Kaiserslautern, Cameron Collums and Chris Jastrab each struck out five batters in collecting mound victories.
Rylee Haynes went a combined four-four six for Kaiserslautern in the sweep that upped the Red Raiders’ record to 6-3; Treyton Simmons was three-for-three with a triple in the opener.
AFNORTH (2-8) is scheduled to close the regular season Saturday at Baumholder.
Heidelberg 7-11, Vilseck 3-3: Friday at Heidelberg, All-European Alex Weaver collected the Game 1 victory by scattering five hits and fanning nine, and Austin Benton, who clubbed a three-run homer in Game 1, homered for the second time in the nightcap to propel the Lions to the sweep.
Heidelberg improved to 8-2; Vilseck fell to 6-4. Heidelberg travels to Wiesbaden on Saturday; Vilseck is to host unbeaten Patch.
