Van Wert beats Delphos Jefferson 16-11

Van Wert independent sports

DELPHOS — It was perhaps the wildest baseball game of the season.

It featured 28 hits, 27 runs, nine errors and an 11-11 tie entering the final inning. When the dust settled, Van Wert recorded a 16-11 win over Delphos Jefferson at Stadium Park on Friday night.

All five of Van Wert’s seventh inning runs came with two outs.

Dierks Knoch’s RBI single plated Luke Wessell then a single and a walk later, TJ Stoller knocked in Knoch and Gavin McMichael, giving the Cougars a 14-11 lead. Kaiden Bates and Stoller scored after that for the final margin, as Wessell pitched to just four Wildcat batters in the bottom of the inning. Wessell earned the win by pitching the final three innings, allowing just one hit and striking out four.

The game was scoreless entering the top of the third, but a two-RBI single by Breckin Boroff scored Xavier Okuly and Wessell. The Wildcats answered with a run in the bottom half of the inning, then Stoller and Ethan Rupert scored in the fourth to give Van Wert a 4-1 advantage.

However, Delphos Jefferson scored eight runs in the bottom of the fourth, but Van Wert countered with six runs in the fifth, including an RBI triple by Bates.

Rupert and Boroff each had three RBIs for the Cougars.

Van Wert (7-7) will host Crestview at 6 p.m. tonight.