Lyons, Neal key offense as Flyers wash out Rebels in tournament opener

PEDRO — Saint Joseph's offense hammered out 11 hits and their pitching delivered a combined 3-hitter as the Flyers beat the South Gallia Rebels 15-5 at a rain-soaked Rock Hill High School in the opening round of the Ohio Division 7 tournament on Friday.

"We came out strong in those first couple innings and jumped on them," said Flyers coach Nick Medinger. "I thought Evan (Aldridge) and Barrett (Waginger) did a great job of throwing despite the steady rainfall the whole game."

The wins advances St. Joseph (17-7) to the district semifinals next Wednesday where they will face SOC-1 foe Portsmouth Clay at Logan High School with first pitch scheduled for 4:00 P.M.

Offensively, the Flyers were paced by Carson Lyons going 2-of-3 with a pair of triples and two RBI and Brayden Neal going 3-4 with four RBI. Evan Aldridge had a hit with two RBI. Beckham Waginger had a hit and a RBI. Barrett Waginger and Carson Willis had two hits, and Mason Weber and Ian Whaley had an RBI.

Aldridge picked up the win striking out five batters and allowing two hits in three innings of work. Waginger came on in relief in the fourth and closed the game out, allowing just a hit and an earned run with five strikeouts.

"Both Carson (Lyons) and Brayden (Neal) have been doing a great job of hitting down the stretch for us. Some kids have struggled in certain games, so it's definitely a good sign to see guys stepping up when others might be struggling."

The Flyers wasted no time getting on the board in their first at-bat.

Barrett Wagigner tripled to lead off and his brother Beckham drew a walk to put two runners on. Lyons followed them with a lined shot into the right-center gap for a triple and made the score 2-0.

Lyons scored when a pair of Rebel players collided while going for a pop fly into short right by Mason Weber. Then with one out, Neal singled in Weber to make it 4-0.

The Flyers would add four more in the second to go up 8-0. The scoring was highlighted again by another triple from Lyons that scored a run and Neal later singled in the inning to drive in two more runs.

South Gallia (8-15) took advantage of four batters reaching via walks and a catchers' interference and a clutch two-out base hit from Chayse Ruiz to cut Saint Joseph's lead to 8-4 in the top of the third.

In the bottom half of the frame, the Flyers scored six more runs off of three hits, coupled with four walks to push their lead to double digits.

Aldridge highlighted the run-rally when he drove a 1-2 pitch back up the middle to score two runs and make it 11-4. Then Neal followed with his third hit of the game to score a run.

South Gallia staved off the 10-run mercy rule in the top of the fifth and get the game into the sixth inning.

However, the Flyers would finish things off in the bottom of the sixth when Beckham Waginger singled with one out. Then proceeded to move around to third with a steal and a wild pitch.

A second wild pitch allowed Waginger to score from third and give the Flyers the run-rule win.

South Gallia's Garrett Gibson took the loss in 4 and 2/3 innings of work.

Gibson also had a hit with an RBI in the losing effort. Lincoln Shamblin and Ruiz had the other two hits for the Rebels. Grant McComas, Carter Sanders and Noah Devine accounted for an RBI.

South Gallia 004 010 = 5 3 5

St. Joseph 446 001 = 15 11 2

Garrett Gibson, Grant McComas (3), Dusty Mooney (6) and Grant McComas, Garrett Gibson (3), McComas (3), Gibson (6). Evan Aldridge, Barrett Waginger (4) and Beckham Waginger, Evan Aldridge (4). W-Aldridge (IP-3.0, H-2, R-4, ER-0 K-5, BB-4, HBP-1, WP-1). Waginger (IP-3.0, R-1, ER-1, K-5, BB-3, HBP-1). L- Gibson (IP-4.2, H-7, R-8, ER-6, K-5, BB-3, HBP-1). McComas (IP-0.1 H-3, R-6, ER-5, K-0, BB-5, ). Mooney (IP-0.1, H-1, R-1, ER-1, K-0, BB-1, WP-2). Hitting–South Gallia: Garrett Gibson 1-3 RBI, Grant McComas RBI, Lincoln Shamblin 1-3, Carter Sanders RBI, Chayse Ruiz RBI, Noah Devine RBI; St. Joseph: Barrett Waginger 2-5, Beckham Waginger 1-3 RBI, Carson Lyons 2-3 2-3B 3-RBI, Mason Weber RBI, Evan Aldridge 1-3 2-RBI, Braydon Neal 3-4 4-RBI, Carson Willis 2-3, Ian Whaley RBI.