High school baseball: Keystone's Ryan Younglas pitches one-hitter to beat Black River

LAGRANGE — Hits were hard to come by for the Black River baseball team against Keystone this season.Three weeks ago, the Wildcats threw a combined one-hitter against the Pirates lost 4-3. On Monday night, Black River managed only one hit again but only got one runner to third, losing 7-0 in a Lorain County League game.The result leaves Black River (10-5, 8-1) and the Wildcats (9-5, 7-1) with one loss each in conference play with about three weeks left in the regular season."The first time we played, it wasn't their game, and we got them, and it was kind of the opposite in the game today," Pirates coach Jake O'Connor said. "(Keystone) came out of the get-go hitting the ball, and we helped out as well throwing the ball around."It's hard to win many games when you only have one hit. Hats off to Keystone."Wildcats starter Ryan Younglas was dominating, allowing the one hit, walking three and striking out 11 by changing speeds and eye levels.Keystone leadoff batter Shane Ohl set the tone, smashing an 0-2 pitch to the fence in deep left field for a triple. He scampered home on a wild pitch for a quick 1-0 lead before the second batter of the lineup finished his appearance.Blake Moore followed with a single and later went to third on an errant pickoff throw to first. Moore came home on a sacrifice fly to left by Younglas, who finished with three hits.After another 1-2-3 inning for the Pirates, Keystone added another three runs in the second. Brendan Hagerman scored on a wild pitch after being hit by a pitch, and Ohl picked up his second hit with a single through the right side.Moore came to the plate and smoked a 3-1 pitch deep over the left-field fence, giving the Wildcats a commanding 5-0 lead with just one down in the second."That start felt really good. We felt we were the better team from the start, and we just had a terrible game when we played at their place," Moore said. "We came into this game hot with Shane (Ohl) hitting that triple, and we just kept it going in the second inning."Dozier Hendershot drew a walk to start the third for the Pirates. After a stolen base and ground ball to second for the second out, he became the only Pirate runner to reach third, but the inning ended with another grounder to Quinn Otto at second.After getting out of that inning, Younglas struck out five of the next six hitters, with the exception a sliding, hit-robbing catch by Moore in right field off the bat of Hunter Mate.Freshman Dom Bell finally picked up the first hit for the Pirates with one out in the sixth on a ground ball deep to short. He beat the throw at first.Younglas went on to get out of the inning and set Black River down in order in the seventh."I've coach 350-some games, and I don't ever remember throwing a combined (one)-hitter and losing a game. That's baseball for you," Wildcats coach Bert Fitzgerald said. "We came out today and played total team baseball. (Younglas) led us on the mound and the guys kept getting it done at the plate. That's what we are looking for."Contact James Brady at sports@medina-gazette.com.Keystone 7, Black River 0BLACK RIVER 000 000 0 — 0 1 5KEYSTONE 230 002 x — 7 8 0WP — Ryan Younglas 7 innings, 3 walks, 11 strikeouts. LP — Josh Stuart (2-3) 3 innings, 5 runs, 5 earned, 6 hits, 2 walks, 2 hit batters, 3 strikeouts. Black River (10-5, 8-1). Keystone (9-5, 7-1) — Shane Ohl single, triple, 2 runs; Blake Moore single, home run, 2 RBIs, 3 runs; Younglas 2 singles, RBI; Quinn Otto 2 walks; Brendan Hagerman single, 2 runs.