By Cort Reynolds

ST. HENRY__The visiting Ada High School baseball team lost to top-seeded powerhouse St. Henry 21-0 in their Div. VI Northwest 1 sectional final game on Saturday evening, May 23.

Ranked second in the state, the hard-hitting Redskins built a 5-0 lead after two innings. They then put the game out of reach with an eight-run third.

SH plated eight more runs in the bottom of the fourth frame to invoke the mercy run rule after a scoreless top of the fifth.

The Redskins out-hit the Bulldogs 16-3 and took advantage of six Ada errors to score 12 unearned runs. SH smacked seven doubles and two home runs.

The Bulldogs end their season with a 9-16 record. The Redskins advance to district play with a 22-3 mark. St. Henry tied Coldwater with a 7-2 record to share the Midwest Athletic Conference regular season title.

“Tough way for the season to end,” said Ada head coach Toby Smith. “Some of our errors that we had been avoiding came back to bite us. 

“Overall, I am proud of the guys and the season as we improved tremendously over the course of the season,” he noted. 

Senior Mason Wibley slugged a double for the Ada extra-base hit. Shortstop Wes Mowery singled, and right fielder Logan Fleece hit a single. 

Redskin senior Owen Zimmerman smacked two doubles and a single to help pace the potent SH offense. He drove in three runs and scored three runs.

Senior Carter LaGuire hammered a two-run home run. Sophomore Austin Zimmerman also smacked a home run and knocked in three runs while scoring once.

Junior Tate Boeckman swatted a two-run double. Junior Austin Kunk stroked a pair of doubles, drove in two runs and scored three times. Senior Jack Huelsman slapped two singles, had two runs batted in and scored two runs. 

Junior Drew Langenkamp doubled, hit a single, collected three RBI and scored two runs. Senior Hudson Schmitz knocked out three singles, scored four runs and drove in one.

Redskin senior pitcher Max Delzeith hurled three innings of one-hit baseball to get the win. He struck out seven and walked none.

Ada freshman Robert Shanks started and hurled 1.3 innings. He allowed five hits and four earned runs. He struck out one and walked one.

Junior Brody Rister relieved and tossed 1.7 frames, allowing six hits and five earned runs. Rister also struck out one and walked one.

Wibley went two-thirds of an inning in the fourth. He walked two while giving up five hits and no earned runs in his final Bulldog game.

Bulldog Gavin Guyton got the final out.

Ada left three runners on base, while SH stranded five baserunners. The Redskin pitchers did not walk a batter and struck out 12.

St. Henry advances to the district semifinals at McGuffey on Wednesday, May 27 at 4:30 p.m. vs. league foe Parkway (11-15). The Panthers knocked St. Henry out of the tournament last spring, 4-2.

SH edged MAC foe Parkway 6-5 in nine innings this season back on April 30.

The district finals are slated for Friday, May 29 in Shelby at 5 p.m.

WP-Delzeith LP-Shanks

2B-Wibley (A), Kunk 2 (SH), Boeckman (SH), Langenkamp (SH), A. Zimmerman (SH), O. Zimmerman 2 (SH)

HR-A. Zimmerman (SH), LaGuire (SH)