CLAYTON — Northmont took a 3-0 first inning lead Tuesday at home against Wayne and went on to post an 8-0 shutout victory, its second straight win.
Northmont improved to 3-6 overall and 1-2 in the Greater Western Ohio Conference. Wayne fell to 3-4 and 0-2 in conference play.
Sophomore pitcher Brady Whittaker earned the win. He worked all seven innings, limited the Warriors to just two hits with two walks and nine strike outs.
Wayne’s pitching was suspect at best as several Northmont batters ended up getting beaned by errant pitches. Austin Welch, Chase Fuduloff, Drake Sauber, Jacob Beck, and Jamir Ross each got on base after being hit by a pitch.
Welch, Ross, and Beck each had a stolen base.
Fuduloff got Northmont off to a solid start by belting a lead off double to left in the bottom of the first inning. Wayne pitcher Andrew Christen uncorked an errant pitch that hit Ross to put runners at first and second. Beck drew a walk to load the bases.
Sauber hit a ground out to Christen as Fuduloff scored with Ross advancing to third and Beck to second. Brady Lupton hit a ground out to third that scored Ross and advanced Beck to third. Whittaker helped his own cause with a single to right to score Beck as the Thunderbolts took a 3-0 lead.
Beck hit a two out double in the bottom of the second to drive in Fuduloff and Ross to increase the lead to 5-0. Fuduloff got on base by getting hit by a pitch and Ross reached on fielder’s choice.
Northmont added three more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Welch reached first on a fielder’s choice, stole second and advanced to third on a ground out. Ross drew a walk and stole second. Beck got hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Welch scored on a wild pitch with Ross advancing to third and Beck to second. Sauber belted a line drive double to right to score Ross and Beck to make it 8-0.
Christen took the loss for Wayne. He pitched five and two-thirds innings, gave up four hits, six earned runs, hit four batters with errant pitches, walked four and struck out one.
Sauber went one for three with a double and three RBIs. Beck went one for one with a double, walked twice, scored two runs, and had two RBIs. Fuduloff went one for three with a double and scored twice.
Whittaker went one for two with a walk and one RBI. Cooper Lykins went one for three. Ross drew a walk and scored three runs.
Reach Ron Nunnari at (937) 684-9124 or email [email protected].
