Galion pitcher Kael Longwell delivers a pitch against Fostoria in a sectional semifinal game. Longwell threw a no-hitter in the 10-0 victory.
Don Tudor | Aim Media Midwest
Allen Carver and Kael Longwell are seen celebrating after the Tigers score against Fostoria. Galion plays at Wapakoneta on Friday.
Don Tudor | Aim Media Midwest
GALION — Wednesday evening was Kael Longwell’s night on the mound and even at the plate. The junior tossed a no-hitter and brought in the game-ending run in Galion’s 10-0 run rule effort over Fostoria in a sectional semifinal matchup.
“He’s a gritty guy, man,” said Galion head coach Kenny Fagan. “He hasn’t gotten a lot of run support in a lot of his outings. But he’s a dude that we looked to.”
Longwell felt like as long as he did his job, his team would back him up and follow suit.
“I had a lot of confidence in the team that we would win,” said Longwell. “I knew just throwing strikes that my defense would play for me.”
Gallon rattled off 10 hits and had two errors compared to Fostoria’s eight errors. With the win, Galion is set up for a matchup with Wapakoneta on Friday for a sectional title.
Braxton Prosser joined Longwell and CJ Ganshorn with two hits against the Redmen. Prosser got things started during Galion’s first at-bar and later scored along with Max Albert on an error. The sophomore, Prosser, would reach base a total of four times as he continues a hot streak at the right time.
I’m the bottom of the second, Holden Hunter ripped a double down the left field line, then Ganshorn singled to give the Tigers runners at the corners. Prosser belted a double to bring in both of his teammates, then scored on an error to give the Tigers a 5-0 advantage.
After a quick tip half of the third, Longwell began the bottom half with a bunt single, which he would end up scoring on due to two throwing errors. Carson Frankhouse would single, then was drive-in by Ganshorn. Ganshorn went on to score on another error.
Hunter Miniard scored on a fielder’s choice in the fourth inning for the Tigers.
In the top of the sixth inning, Albert flipped a ground ball to Trey Longwell, who threw it to Holden Hunter for the double play. That set up the walk-off run rule in the bottom half.
Albert was plunked by a pitch, then advanced to third on a wild pitch and a passed ball. Longwell’s poke to left field ended it.
“It feels good that we finally got some runs. Once we got a few runs, I knew I could just keep throwing strikes and they’d play for me,” Longwell said confidently.
Galion’s opponent on Friday, No. 1 seed Wapakoneta, comes in at a very good 16-5 on the season. With the win over Fostoria, Galion improved to 13-9 on the season.
“We kind of know what we’re getting into Friday. We’re definitely a small ball team, we bunt, we run pretty well,” said Fagan. “So it’s just trying not to stray away from that. We had some big base hits but we know who we are.”
