by Upper Arlington, Ohio – The Upper Arlington Bears defeated Brunswick, 12-1, in a run-rule shortened five-inning contest at Upper Arlington High School Saturday afternoon.
Senior pitcher Joey Harder struck out the side in the top half of the first inning for the Golden Bears.
Upper Arlington got things cooking in the home half of the first inning. Joey Harder led off with a single up the middle. Nick Sawyer followed with a single to left. Harder came in on a fielders’ choice grounder, making the score 1-0. Sawyer scored on a steal of home before a tag was applied for the third out on a caught stealing attempt.
The Golden Bears weren’t done, as they added four more runs in the home half of the second inning.
Evan DeLeone had a double in the bottom half of the second to increase the lead to 3-0. Joey Harder helped his cause with a single to left. A single and walk loaded the bases. Sam Tongol followed with a two-run single to increase the lead to 6-0.
Upper Arlington added six more runs in their half of the third inning. Pinch hitter Ryan Miller had a bases-loaded walk, and Sam Tongol knocked in two with a single to right. Miller scored on a ground ball, and Tongol scored on a wild pitch. Another runner scored on a passed ball.
In the top of the fifth, Brunswick senior infielder Jacob Mancini hit a home run to break the shutout.
Upper Arlington (6-1) travels to Pickerington North to open up conference play. Junior outfielder Sam Tongol went 2-2 with four runs batted in and a run scored. Nick Sawyer and Joey Harder each went 2-2 as well and scored thrice. Harder also had nine strikeouts in four innings on the day.
Brunswick bounced back from the loss with a 13-6 win over Pyle High School (KY), in the second game of their doubleheader. The Blue Devils now sit at 2-2 and open up GCC conference play with games against Euclid Monday and Tuesday afternoon.
