The Rising Sun Shiners locked up the Ohio River Valley Conference baseball title on Monday, May 13 with a 3-2 win over South
Ripley at Versailles.
Coach Kevin Wirsch’s Shiners had to rally for three runs in the seventh to overcome the Raiders in a contest which was scheduled
to be at Rising Sun but changed when the two teams met earlier in RS because SR grounds were too wet.
Shiner ace Nathan Hannan gave up a pair of
runs in the first and went into the sixth inning before hie was ejected
for hitting
Austin Halcomb. Hannan had hit Raider catcher Jason Dilk in the
first inning. Both teams were warned afterwards that the next
pitcher to throw a bean ball would be ejected, thus Hannan exited
trailing 2-0.
However, Cody Weaver needed just one pitch to get the Raiders to ground into a 4-6-3 double play with Brandon Turner to Austin
Armstrong to Miles Morris.
Raider starter Joe Dickens walked Ryan Dugan
and Mitchell Morris to open the seventh. Brandon Turner had a bloop
single RBI.
The raider defense allowed Armstrong and David Huber infield
miscues. Miles Morris just missed a home run with a sac fly at
the 355 foot sign in center but it scored Turner with the game
winning run.
Weaver finished off the Raiders by striking out the side after a two out walk. Weaver picked up the win. Hannan and Dicken
allowed four hits each.
The win improved Rising Sun to 9-1 in ORVC play and 17-2 overall as they won their 13th straight.
The Shiners hadn’t played in a week as rain cancelled contests with South Dearborn and North Decatur while a conference clash
with Shawe was postponed until Friday, May 17 in Madison.
The Shiners will play Oldenburg in the opening round of Class A sectional 60 at Madison Shawe on Wednesday, May 22 with the
winner facing the Shawe/JCD winner on Thursday. Finals are at 5 p.m. on Monday, May 27.