XENIA — Members of the Licking County Settlers were throwing a football around during Wednesday’s rain delay. The weather for Thursday’s June 13 Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League baseball game felt like football weather, as the Settlers and host Xenia Scouts split a doubleheader at Grady’s Field.
With the wind whipping around and the temperatures dipping into the low 50s, Thursday’s wind chill felt like … November.
Xenia won the seven-inning opener by a 3-2 score. Licking County played some long ball in Game Two to claim an 8-3 win.
The doubleheader split leaves the Settlers alone in second place in the GLSCL South division with a 5-4 record, while Xenia is now 4-5 and in a three-way tie for third.
Xenia’s Timothy Watkins pitched his best game of the season for the Scouts to win the first game. Watkins, a sophomore lefthander from Florida’s Polk State College, struck out 15 Licking County batters to nab the win.
Wayne State’s Hunter DeLanoy scored Xenia’s first run on a passed ball, and Steven Saunders came home on Will Acuff’s single in the first inning. Pitcher/designated hitter Allan Goodwin reached base on a third-inning called third strike, and later scored on an infield out for the Scouts’ third run of the opening game.
The Settlers scored a pair of runs in the seventh on Cael Baker’s two-run double, but came up short of the rally.
Game Two saw Licking Valley score first, with outfielders Konner Dodge and Turner Hill both scoring on a Baker double into deep center field. The Settlers never trailed in the second contest.
Xenia drew within a run of the lead when Kody Canclerz singled to center to score DeLanoy from third in the third inning. Logan Matson scored on a Saunders single in the fifth, and DeLanoy scored on a Saunders infield out for the Scouts’ other two runs.
Aside from the two-run start in the first, Licking County plated a run in the fourth, three runs in the fifth and two more in the top of the seventh for the final 8-3 second-game margin. Miami University product Nate Stone hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning for the Settlers.
Xenia heads south to Cincinnati Western Hills’ McLeary Field for a 7:05 p.m. Friday June 14 contest against the Cincinnati Steam, while the Settlers head west to take on the Richmond Jazz.
The Scouts’ next home game is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Tuesday, June 18 against the Lake Erie Monarchs.
