NEW CARLISLE — Benjamin Logan baseball coach Scott Wilson thought his offense could have been better here Monday, with the top-seeded Raiders collecting a modest six hits against 17th-seeded Greenon in a Division III sectional final.
But it was more than enough offensive production for Ben Logan starting pitcher Carter Rees, who continued a dominant stretch of pitching for the Raiders in a 5-0 victory over the Knights at Tecumseh High School.
Rees, who contributed two innings in a three-man perfect game against Northridge in the sectional semifinal last week, tossed a one-hitter with 10 strikeouts to send Ben Logan into a district championship matchup with Cincinnati McNicholas on Wednesday at a site to be determined.
Ben Logan, the top-ranked Division III team in Ohio, is now 27-1 on the season.
A senior right-hander, Rees runs his season record to 8-0 and lowers his ERA to a minuscule 0.292.
Rees also benefited from some stellar defense, getting a pair of double plays to snuff out Greenon (10-17) threats.
“Carter and the defense were phenomenal today,” said Wilson. “We just have to get our offense firing a little more. We scored five runs, but we only had six hits. Typically, we get in the nine to 10 range.”
Although the Raiders were limited to six singles, they made the most of them, taking advantage of their speed on the base paths to steal eight bases.
“That’s what we want to do,” said Wilson. “We want to get guys on and get them moving to put pressure on the defense.”
The Raiders grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning and then broke the game open in the fourth inning with a three-run outburst that made the score 4-0.
Kainan Stoner had an RBI single and the Raiders also scored runs on a throwing error and a wild pitch in the fourth.
Ben Logan tacked on an insurance run in the fifth.
Stoner went 3-3 and stole three bases to spark the Raiders.
Rees, Austin McGowan and Blake Peterson also had hits in the win.
The Raiders will now get prepped for a district title showdown with McNicholas, which beat Williamsburg 11-5 on Monday in its sectional final.
McNicholas, a member of the Greater Catholic Co-ed League, will enter with a record of 16-10.
“We have to continue to pitch well and we need to swing the bats,” said Wilson of Wednesday’s matchup.
BEN LOGAN 5,
GREENON 0
Knights. 000 000 0 — 0 1 1
Raiders. 100 310 X — 5 6 0
WP—Rees; LP—Polen