A big inning from the plate and solid starting pitching have the Shelby baseball squad moving on to the Division II Sandusky District as 5-3 winners over Ontario in the sectional final.

 

The 6th-seeded Warriors had built some momentum heading into postseason play with victories in each of their last four outings and took an early 1-0 edge in the top of the 1st on an RBI from the bat of Noah Creed. Whippets starter Blaise Caudill would settle in, though, keeping Ontario off the board for the next five innings of action.

 

Caden Armstrong was strong on the hill for most of his outing, holding #5 Shelby scoreless until a close call at the plate tied the contest in the bottom half of the fourth. The key offensive damage for the Whippets arrived during a 2-out rally in the sixth that saw four Shelby runs cross the plate with Cameron Payne driving in a score and Caudill smacking a 2-RBI double.

 

Ontario (13-11) would make things interesting with a 2-out rally of their own in the top of the 7th, plating a pair of runs and loading the bases, but could not keep the momentum rolling as they did a season ago during a run to the regional finals.

 

Shelby (12-10) now advances to face #3 Norwalk in the district semifinals. The Truckers knocked off #1 Perkins 8-5 in their sectional final and beat the Whippets earlier in the season by a score of 6-2.