By Will Swary

LANCASTER- Junior right hander Jake Newton battled the entire evening on the hill, overcoming a night where he didn’t have his best stuff to help No. 10 Bloom Carroll beat Marion Pleasant 4-3 for a Division III district title.

Bloom Carroll would put the first runs on the board in a four walk 1st inning that tested the nerves of Pleasant starting pitcher Janik Tackett. Tackett would eventually settled down and work past his wildness, allowing only one runner to score as Josh Gabbard came home on a wild pitch.

The score would get knotted in the top half of the 2nd when Pleasant’s Chayse Varity hit a leadoff triple down the right field line. Varity would eventually come home on a sacrifice fly by Jordan Kelley to tie the game at 1-1 after two innings.

Bloom Carroll added another run in the 3rd after three straight singles loaded the bases; Aaron Coogan was walked to force a run in. Two more runs came across for the Bulldogs in the 4th after two walks in a row to lead off the inning would allow Jake Newton to help his own cause by driving an RBI single in to right field. The other runner would come home on a groundout to the short stop for a 4-1 advantage for the Bulldogs after 4.

Marion Pleasant would cut the deficit to one in the 5th after a decision to bunt base runners over to second and third with two outs paid off. Adam Chidester drove a two out single in to centerfield, scoring the two runners and cutting the lead to one.

The scoring in the game was over at that point though as Bloom Carroll used the grittiness of Jake Newton to secure a win late. Topping out at 83 mph and holding in between 78-80 mph early, Newton battled his command all evening, walking a season high four batters and seemingly pitching out of a jam every inning. Newton settled down when it mattered most though, striking out two in the 6th, followed by a one two three inning in the 7th for the win.

Bloom Carroll advances to Regional play in Elida next Thursday, May 24.