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To District CrownBy BOB HANDLER StaffWriterThe role couldn’t have been cast any finer. The situation called for a hero and Denny Maag stepped forward to accept the part;.The senior righthander, who started the game as a shortstop but wound up as the winning pitcher, lea off the seventh inning with a long triple and set the stage for Leipsie’s 4-3 district tournament victory over Northmont Thursday at Findlay High School.Duane Niese and Roger Meyer, the latter whose sacrifice fly two innings earlier delivered Maag with the game-tying run, were walked intentionally and Bruce Meyer jumped on loser Doug Canaday’s first pitch and sent a game winning line drive single dVer the third base bag.Meanwhile, at Kalida, Columbus Grove romped past Spencerville, 3-2, to win its district championhsip and set up a regional opening contest with the Vikings at Deshler Patrick Henry.Ruben Gonzales, whose three previous tournament victories have carried Leipsie to its farthest point along the tournament trail in the school’s two-year baseball history, started on the mound but was quickly pulled by Coach Ted Miller with two out in the third inning ' Once Maag traded his shortstop position with Gonzales, Northwood managed only two base hits and one unearned run.“It was the best ball game he’s pitched all year,” an ecstatic Miller said. “Tonight he was sharp. He had all the pitches, he controlled the ball game.”The Rangers got off to a 3-0 lead with single runs in the first, third and fourth innings. Rick Coy, who led off the game with an infield hit, moved around on a stolen base and ground out and scored on Rick Minarein’s two-out base hit up4 the middle.Before that hit, Gonzales had not allowed an earned run in his last 40 innings of work.Northwood made it 2-0 in the third when Randy Coy drew a two-out base on balls, stole one of four bases by the Rangers, and scored when Canaday’s hard grounder which skipped off third baseman Tracy Place’s glove for an error.Exit Gonzales, enter Maag.Bob Snider scored Northwood’s third run in the fourth on a single, a wild throw by catcher Bruce Meyer on an attempted steal and an error by Place on a slow grounder.That marked the end of Northwood’s offense for the day as Maag, a 6-0, 175-pound three sport letterman, retired 12 of the filial 15 batters in recording his eighth victory without a loss.Leipsie, in the meantime, threatened repeatedly but failed to score, leavingrunners aboard in every inning.That all changed in the fifth, however, to the approval of the partisan Leipsie crowd which enjoyed the rare pleasant weather.Duane Tooman, hitting ninth in the order, rapped a single—his 12th hit in the last 22 at bats. The heavyset rightfielder has hit safely in the last seven games.The next batter, Place, was hit by a pitch and, after Gonzales popped out, Maag poked the first of his RBI hits, a double to right. Niese delivered the second run with an infield single that rolled over the mound. And Roger Meyer, younger of the two brothers, sent a sacrifice fly to right as Maag scampered home with the tying run.Leipsie threatened in the sixth but didn’t score before the memorable seventh.“We wanted to get that first man on,” Miller recalled, “and when he (Maag) hit the triple, it just registered in my mind we were going to win the ball game. I was confident at that point we would win. And we did.Maag’s triple was laced to right-centerfield. After the two intentional passes loaded the bases, Bruce Meyer’s line drive base hit with the Northwood fielders drawn in set off a wild victory scene by the Vikings. The Leipsie dugout emptied, first swarming Maag, tnen Bruce Meyer.“The thing I was worried about was that he would hit the ball back to the pitcher,” said Miller. “Bruce doesn’t have that good speed and so I wanted him to get it in the air.”It was a sweet taste of revenge for the Vickings, who were thumped out of the sectional finals a year ago by this same Northwood club. Leipsie swept an opening day doubleheader in these team’s only other meeting this season.Columbus Grove’s victory over Spencerville Thursday was aided by the fine fielding of shortstop Gary Gerdeman, who turned a sure hit into a fifth inning double play and made a diving stab of a seventh inning shot to force out a runner.With the score tied 2-2 in the sixth, Mike Wyant singled and eventually scored the winning run on a passed ball. Mike Gerken’s two-run single in the second inning gave the Bulldogs an early 2-1 lead. Spencerville scored single runs in the first and fourth innings.John Extine’s four-hitter upped his record to 8-0 and the team’s mark to 21-8. Spencerville loser John Davis absorbed only his second loss in 10 decision as the Bearcats fell to 16-6.Northwood 101 100 0—3Leipsie. 000 030 1—4WP—Denny Maag lt;8-0). LP—Doug Canaday.41023Columbis Grove 020 901 0—3 6 2Spencerville 100 100 0—2 4 1WP—John Extine {8-0). LP—John Oavis (8-2).
Newspaper Details
Findlay Courier
Findlay, Ohio, US
Fri, May 21, 1976
Page 20
Full Page
Clipped by
Dave M.
USA 28 Sep 2020
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