Bellefontaine Easton Water rallied from the loser’s bracket to knock off Indian Lake twice Wednesday night in a district final at Blue Jacket Park.
Easton Water edged Indian Lake 2-1 in the first game and pulled out a 7-5 win in the second game. Bellefontaine advances to the state Acme tournament Saturday in Elida. Easton Water faces Van Wert in the first game at 10 a.m.
“The resiliency from these guys was amazing,” said Bellefontaine coach Russ Hogue. “Game two we were down 5-1 in the top of the fourth. We responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning and that was a huge turn of events. The momentum came back in our favor. Then we were able to seal the deal with two runs in the sixth.”
In the first game, Easton Water grabbed a 1-0 lead after the first inning. Bellefontaine went up 2-0 after scoring another run in the top of the fifth inning.
Indian Lake’s only run came in the bottom of the fifth inning to trail 2-1 and were never able to catch Bellefontaine the rest of the way.
Tavian St. Clair pitched a complete game for Easton Water scattering four hits and piling up 10 strikeouts.
Offensively for Easton Water, St. Clair and Riley Neer both had an RBI.
The second game saw Indian Lake jump ahead 5-1 after four innings. However, Bellefontaine was able to rally with four runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 5-5.
Easton Water was able to score two more runs in the sixth inning to pull ahead 7-5 and held on for the win.
Keyon Collier led Bellefontaine with five RBI, while Chris Fogan recorded the win on the mound with six strikeouts.