The Locos and Copperheads played 2 games yesterday after Wednesday’s rainout. Lima won both games to put themselves in 2nd place in the GLSCL. They now are in position to have home-field advantage in the 1st round of the postseason with 6 games left to play.

Both games were opposite of each other. Game 1 was a high-scoring game with a final of 7-6. Outside of 2 innings Thomas Howard, Lima’s starter, was flawless. In 6 innings of work, he pitched 4 1-2-3 innings. The 5 runs he allowed came in innings 2 and 3. Hunter Strong and Pauly Mancino each hit a home run to give Southern Ohio a 5-0 lead. 

Matthew Blanchard started the game for the Copperheads. He allowed 4 total runs. In the 3rd the Loco runs came after Alexander and Richards drew back-to-back bases-loaded walks. In the 4th Bo Shinkle hit a sac-fly and Caden Lockwood scored after a wild pitch. 

No runs came across in the 5th inning, so the score stayed at 5-4. In the 6th inning, Blake Bowen hit a 2-RBI single to give Lima the lead. Lou Fujiwara then scored by stealing home after Blake Bowen got caught in a pickle. 

In the final inning, Skyler Lhamon entered the game. He allowed 1 run but held off the Copperheads to pick up his 3rd save of 2024. 

Game 2 was a true pitcher’s duel. Pfirrmann faced off against Pare and both looked excellent; however, due to a lot of foul balls, each pitcher’s pitch count climbed fast. Pare left the game after the 4th and Dane Ebel took his place. Pfirrmann left the game after the 5th and threw 103 pitches. 

Though 5.2 innings the Pfirrmann did not allow a Lima hit. Southern Ohio had 4 total hits at that point. After 2 walks there was a runner in scoring position for Lou Fujiwara. He broke up the no-hitter in a big way by hitting an RBI single, scoring Estep. That was the only run of the game scored by either team. 

In the 7th inning, Southern Ohio led off the inning with a double, but Ebel struck out 3 consecutive batters to end the game.

Both teams will be off for a week due to the league’s All-Star festivities. The Locos return to baseball on July 18th to start a series with the Joes.