DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
DECATUR – Having gone a week without a win, coach Tom Montgomery’s Bellmont Braves got a long home run by senior Eli Laurent and a solid start by freshman Beau Baker to win an important NE8 game against Leo, 12-6.Â
Laurent’s bomb to left field, which could have been a concern for passing traffic on Monroe Street, was part of a six-run second inning for the home team. Leo starter Riley Stewart lost all control of the strike zone, walking the bases loaded to bring up Will Baker.Â
After a visit to the mound by the Leo head coach, Jack Scheumann, who was the runner at third, signaled to Montgomery, the third base coach. A simple shake of the head by Monty was all Scheumann needed to take off for home on a suicide squeeze with full confidence that Baker would be able to get a bunt down.
Scheumann’s jump was so large that he nearly stole the base before the bunt landed on the ground, leaving the Leo catcher with no choice but to throw to first to get Baker for the first out of the inning.Â
Another run scored on a balk by Stewart and that set up Laurent for his bomb after Andrew James reached with an RBI single.
Bellmont nearly gave Leo the lead by allowing four runs in the next half inning, but Leo thought they could run on senior Austin Christner on a fly ball to left. Instead, Christner completed a double play, nailing the runner tagging up from second to third to get out of the inning with Keagan Martin on in relief of Beau Baker.
James scored from second on a Leo error in the fourth, but Martin also struggled with control, walking the first two batters of the fifth inning and giving up two runs to make it a 7-6 game.
Martin had the big play in the next half inning, though, when his bunt set off a series of Leo errors that allowed Dylan Velez and Scheumann to score, along with Martin himself on a little league-style homer.
Velez later tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Scheumann in the sixth.
Baker finished his outing on the mound with one earned run allowed in 4.1 innings of work with one strikeout. He re-entered the game as pitcher for the sixth and the seventh innings, allowing just one hit after his return.Â
Martin threw 2.2 innings and allowed just two hits.
Laurent and Velez each had two hits.