By Joe Shouse
Sports Writer
HAVILAND – Opening sectional play last Tuesday, the Wayne Trace Raiders hosted Continental and came up with a win to advance the Raiders in tournament action. The fourth seed Raiders scored early and defeated the 14th seed Pirates 4-0.
The red, white, and blue scored three runs in the opening frame and then tacked on an additional run in the fifth inning to wrap up all the scoring. The Raiders stayed in control throughout the contest while the Pirates never put up a serious threat.
In the initial inning the Raiders got on the board following a Tucker Antoine walk. The freshman attempted a second base steal and, in the attempt, to throw him out the ball made its way to the outfield on a throwing error. Antoine alertly made his way to third base with freshman Cooper Wenzlick making his first appearance at the plate. Wenzlick responded with a single to score Antoine.
With Wenzlick on first Kyle Slade managed a single that advanced Wenzlick to the third. Again, a throwing error by the Pirates turned costly as Wenzlick scored and Slade advanced to second base. With the Raiders in front 2-0 Cale Winans slapped a single to score Slade to give the Raiders a 3-0 margin after one inning.
Continental recorded five errors in the contest with one of those errors giving the Raiders its final score. With Wenzlick occupying second base, an attempt to steal third turned successful on a throwing error to third allowing Wenzlick to cross home plate.
“It’s good to get a win in your first tournament game. It seemed like everything we hit was right to them. But we had excellent pitching and defensively we picked up three double plays,” said Head Coach Ryne Jerome.
Allen Minck got the win, pitching a complete game. The junior struck out seven while allowing just one walk and one hit to get the shutout win.
“Allen (Minck) did a super job for us tonight. He threw just 68 pitches and was highly efficient on the mound,” commented Coach Jerome.
The Raiders continue the tournament trail with another home game against fifth seed Ottoville.
