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Troy
pitcher Ryan Greer delivers a pitch Saturday in the
semi-finals of the District 7 junior varsity
baseball tournament
Saturday against Vandalia-Butler at GTI Field. Troy topped Butler 8-5
but
lost to Northmont 12-2 later that day. The T’Bolts will move on to
regional action next Friday in Celina.
CNO Photo by George Starks
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Northmont proves to be the cream of the
crop
Bolts win
district title in Acme tourney
By George Starks
GREENVILLE- When a team stays in the winners bracket in a
double-elimination tournament, thing are made to be much easier.
One loss for any team can be devastating. Just ask the team from Troy.
With the temperatures soaring over 100 degrees, Troy was forced to play
two games Saturday.
In the opener, the Trojans got out to an 8-1 lead over Vandalia-Butler
and was forced to hold on to post an 8-5 victory. In the second game of
the day, the Trojans were forced to face Troy. Earlier in the
tournament, the Bolts had popped Troy, sending the Trojans to the
loser’s bracket.
Northmont put six on the board in the second and collected single runs
in the first and fourth only to salt the game away in the fifth with a
four spot to beat Troy 12-2.
The early tournament loss meant Troy was forced into one more game than
Northmont (5) to get a shot at the title against the same T’Bolts team.
The ability to overcome adversity proved to be the edge Northmont
needed.
In a game with Versailles, the Tigers jumped out to a 5-0 lead before
the Thunderbolts got the win.
“I’ve got kids that don’t quit,” said Bolts coach Gerald Rosenthal.
“Sometimes I have to put my foot in their butt, but they don’t quit.
They’re not quitters and that’s the great thing about them. We were
down to Troy in the first game we played them 4-0 in the first inning
and came back and beat them. We were down 5-0 to Versailles and came
back. So we have the ability to bounce back.”
One thing Rosenthal will use is the element of surprise. Against Troy,
Northmont catcher Nik Avitlotis put down a bunt on a squeeze play.
“It was a perfect execution of a squeeze,” said Rosenthal. “I don’t
have any problems pulling out all the stops to win a game. Our pitching
was excellent today. We gave up just the two runs and our offense was
good. I’m proud of these kids today.”
Now, moving to regional action in Celina, Rosenthal is well aware of
what to expect.
“I’ve been to this point several times,” Rosenthal pointed out. “I told
my kids that it gets tougher from here and the competition gets better.
I took a team to the state in 2003 and a year later, never made it out
of the sectionals. So it’s going to get really tough from here on. I
think I’ve got the talent on this team. We just got to step it up. We
are pitching rich on this team so the depth is here.”
Rosenthal gave credit to his coaching staff as well saying they have
the ability to motivate.
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