BLANCHESTER — Zach West was masterful on the mound as Blanchester blanked No. 18 Bellbrook 8-0 Friday in non-league baseball at Bott Field.
“What a big win for the program,” Blanchester manager Aaron Lawson said of the win over a Division II state-ranked team. “This is why you take something positive away from every game, every day. Keep grinding, working hard and good things happen.”
Blanchester is 16-7. Bellbrook is 17-9.
West, a senior, needed just 81 pitches to dispatch the Eagles on a single hit, a fourth inning, one-out double.
“His velocity was up and he used his off-speed a lot,” Lawson said. “He attacked the strike zone and kept the ball down. He was in total command of all his pitches. I could call any pitch at anytime. That is the recipe to beat a good lineup. You can’t let them get into hitters’ counts.”
Blanchester led 4-0 and never looked back. There have been times when the Wildcats led early but were unable to hold the advantage.
“We finally were able to do what we have been preaching all week … finish,” said Lawson. “We’ve had no problem playing six innings. It’s been one inning haunting us. Not today. A huge reason why was Zach West.”
@Bott Field, BHS
BE^0^0^0^0^0^0^0^(0-1-3)
BL^4^0^1^1^0^2^x^(8-6-0)
(0) BELLBROOK (ab-r-h-rbi) Lapalm 3-0-0-0 Benets 3-0-0-0 Dreskell 3-0-1-0 Hubbell 2-0-0-0 Yoxheimer 2-0-0-0 Oberling 3-0-0-0 Raker 2-0-0-0 Yearley 2-0-0-0 Barhorst 2-0-0-0 TOTALS 22-0-1-0
(8) BLANCHESTER (ab-r-h-rbi) Roush 3-0-2-0 James Wymer 3-2-1-0 West 3-1-1-0 Miller 3-1-0-1 Sipple 2-1-0-1 Dick 1-3-1-1 Dees 2-0-0-0 Elston 3-0-1-1 Skates 0-0-0-0 Adkins 2-0-0- TOTALS 22-8-6-4
2B: BE-Dreskell; BL-Elston, Roush
HBP: BE-Hubbell, Yoxheimer; BL-Roush, Sipple
SB: BL-Dick 3, Miller, West, James Wymer
Pitching^ip^h^r^er^bb^s0
Bellbrook
Bayer (L)^3^4^5^1^1^2
Smith^3^2^3^2^3^3
Blanchester
West (W)^7^1^0^0^0^6
