The Clay Eagles provided further evidence that they are arguably the area's top baseball team on Tuesday, completing a two-game sweep of visiting Northern Lakes League Cardinal Division foe Bowling Green.
Senior first baseman Luke Jeremy, the Eagles' No. 9 batter in the lineup, belted a pair of near carbon-copy two-run homers down the left-field line to highlight Clay's 8-2 win over the Bobcats.
“Luke Jeremy has been really good for us all year out of the nine hole,” Clay head coach Jim Phillips said. “He's that prototypical senior who is super relaxed and doesn't try to do too much. He's been a real bright spot for us.”
The Eagles (14-1, 1-0 NLL), who won their 12th straight game, won 16-4 at BG on Monday night.
The Eagles rode the complete-game pitching of senior Vinny Gallaher on Tuesday. The future Eastern Michigan University right-hander was coming off of a nine-inning no-hitter a week earlier in a 3-0 win at Napoleon, and six hitless innings in his previous outing against Fremont Ross.
He was not as sharp in this outing — yielding eight hits (all singles) and his first two runs of the season — but he struck out nine BG batters.
Gallaher is 5-0 with an 0.45 earned run average and 45 strikeouts and just 15 hits allowed in 31⅓ innings. He kept pace with the other half of Clay's 1-2 senior pitching punch, C.J. Boudreaux (5-0, 0.54 ERA, 48 strikeouts, 11 hits, 26 innings), who will pitch at Bowling Green State University next year.
“Vinny's just a competitor, and I love to have him on the mound,” Phillips said. “He's always going to give you everything he's got.”
Bowling Green took a 1-0 lead in the second inning, when DH Carter Earl singled off the third-base bag with one out and came home on Brent Boston's two-out single down the third-base line.
That lead was short-lived as Jeremy capped a three-run Clay second inning with his first homer, scoring Hudson Byers, who had singled.
“The biggest thing with this group is that we've been really resilient,” Phillips said. “No matter if we're up or down early, we continue to play hard and put pressure on teams. That not-panicking attitude has been beneficial for us.
“Having a lot of experience [8 seniors in the lineup], and playing the schedule we play year in and year out, they've gotten used to being in tight games against good teams. We're not shocked or surprised by the moment.”
In the fourth, Eagles second baseman Aidan Schroeder led off with a single, then scored on Jeremy's second round-tripper. A sacrifice fly from Gallaher (2-for-3) made it a 6-1 lead later in the inning.
“I got the same two pitches,” Jeremy said of his home runs. “I really just saw the inside and turned on it. [BG pitcher Logan Neifer] had a good slider and it moved in on me and I saw it, so I took it to left field.
“The second one was more of a surprise. I hit it a little bit off the end, and I was surprised it went over. It must've carried.”
Clay went up 8-1 in the sixth, when Gallaher ripped a two-out double to the fence in right field, and Boudreaux, Brock Fussell, and Drake Sekinger followed with singles.
The only other run for the Bobcats (9-10, 4-6) came after two were out in the seventh. Joey Kline and Jack Brown sandwiched singles around teammate Will Brose's hit-by-pitch to load the bases, and Kline scored on a Gallaher wild pitch.
“Today really wasn't my day, I guess, but that's baseball,” Gallaher said of his pitching. “You don't always have it, so you've got to push through and throw what you've got.
“This team is pretty special. I just go out there and do what I can, and I trust my team to back me up with the sticks, and behind me on defense. There wasn't a specific [best] pitch that I had today but, whatever I throw, I'm going to throw with full confidence.”
All nine batters in the Clay lineup had at least one hit as the Eagles banged out 12 hits off Neifer and reliever Matt Brinkman.
For their 10 NLL wins, Clay has swept fellow Cardinal Division members Springfield (10-0 and 10-0), Fremont Ross (10-0 and 4-0), Napoleon (4-3 and 3-0), and now BG, plus won league crossover games against Buckeye leader Northview (14-5) and Anthony Wayne (6-5 in 8 innings).
Clay is ranked No. 11 in Ohio's latest D-I state coaches poll.
“I think Clay is one of the best teams in the state, and they've shown it,” BG coach Fred Riggs said. “They're a very good team, and they're even beating up the upper [Buckeye] division in the league.
“That's a testament to Jimmy [Phillips] and what he does out here. He runs a great program, year after year. I think they'll make a deep run in the tournament.”
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