High school baseball: Dom Bell dominates as Black River beats Firelands

SULLIVAN TWP. — A dominant pitching performance by freshman Dom Bell and opportunistic hitting kept the Black River baseball team undefeated in Lorain County League action Thursday with a 3-1 win over Firelands.Bell (2-1) amassed a season-high 11 strikeouts while scattering four hits, four walks and two hit batters. The right-hander threw 111 pitches, including 68 for strikes."My off-speed pitches were working very well," he said. "Once I got the off-speed stuff working, they didn't know what's coming."The team chemistry we have is great. All the hard work we've been putting in with our coaches pushing us is really paying off."The game was originally scheduled to be played at Firelands (4-5, 2-3) but was switched to Black River (5-3, 5-0) around midday due to field conditions."I think I was in sixth period in lunch when I got the word," Bell said. "That made me pretty happy."We just need to keep working and start hitting the ball more. We should have had 6-7 runs today. We need to get all the runs that we can get for insurance."The Pirates' Josh Stuart knotted the game at 1 in the second via fielder's choice, then Black River's go-ahead runs came in the fourth.Trent Boggs was first hit by a pitch by Daniel Kothe, and Dozier Hendershot bunted before Kothe threw the ball away, advancing Boggs to third. Hendershot stole second to put the pair in scoring position.Boggs scored on an infield groundout by pinch-hitter Hunter Mate. After Stuart flew out to left, Bell drove home Hendershot with an infield groundout."I'm super proud of Hunter Mate," Pirates coach Jake O'Connor said. "He came up with a huge pinch hit with guys on second and third. He just put the ball in play."This conference is up for grabs. The conference is very even. Every team is very comparable. We talk about it every day to keep things in view at the present moment."Firelands had runners in scoring position in the third, fourth, sixth and seventh innings but couldn't get the runner beyond second base in each situation."Firelands every year is fundamentally strong. They're a tough team and well-coached," Black River coach Jake O'Connor said. "Last year they got us pretty good twice (14-4 and 20-9)."Our freshman, Dom Bell, did a heckuva job. Defense did a good job helping him out, too."Contact Paul Heyse at sports@medina-gazette.com.Black River 3, Firelands 1FIRELANDS 010 000 0 — 1 4 2BLACK RIVER 010 200 0 — 3 7 0WP — Dom Bell (2-1) 7 innings, earned run, 4 walks, 2 hit batters, 11 strikeouts. LP — Daniel Kothe 6 innings, 0 earned runs, walk, 2 hit batters, 4 strikeouts. Firelands (4-5, 2-3) — Aaron Bower 2 singles; Brayden Alberti double, walk, RBI; Daniel Kothe double, walk. Black River (5-3, 5-0) — Zane Kristophel single, double; Carson Steidl 2 singles, run.