By Cort Reynolds

BLUFFTON__The Bluffton High School baseball team shut out visiting non-conference foe Cory-Rawson 10-0 on Friday, May 15.

The Pirates scored the first run in the bottom of the first inning and tacked on a single score in the second frame. 

Bluffton blew the game open by plating five runs in the home half of the third to build a 7-0 lead. The Pirates pushed across three scores in the fourth inning to invoke the 10-run mercy rule with a shutout a half-inning later.

The Pirates out-hit the Hornets, 9-4. C-R committed four errors that led to five unearned runs. The victorious hosts committed three errors. 

Bluffton improved to 3-12-1 with the convincing home win that stopped a five-game losing skid. 

The Pirates finished 1-6 in the Northwest Conference, placing them seventh in the eight-team league. 

Lincolnview won the NWC with a 7-0 mark. Allen East and Lima Central Catholic tied for second at 5-2. Columbus Grove finished fourth at 4-3. Spencerville and Crestview tied for fifth at 3-4.

Delphos Jefferson, who Bluffton beat 13-4, came in last at 0-7.

C-R dropped to 5-13 after the road defeat. Hornet Wesley Thomas pitched all four innings to get the loss. He scattered 10 hits and three walks to give up five earned runs. He struck out five.

The Pirates are scheduled to play at local non-league rival Pandora-Gilboa (6-16) on Monday, May 18.

Blanchard Valley Conference champion Liberty-Benton blasted the visiting Bluffton baseball team 19-2 on Thursday, May 14 in a non-league game.

Eagle winning pitcher Griffin Austermiller gave up just one hit and two earned runs with five strikeouts and five walks over four innings. 

L-B’s Zach Elchert slugged two home runs and drove in a whopping seven runs while scoring three times. Kooper Leatherman swatted two doubles and a single. Isaac Schworm drove in two runs with a pair of doubles

Pirate starting hurler William Hover suffered the loss as L-B scored six early runs in the first inning and cruised to the win.

Bluffton will again visit second-seeded Liberty-Benton (16-4) at Findlay in the sectional final round on Saturday, May 23 at 2 p.m.

The Pirate/Eagle sectional winner will advance to the district semifinals in Bluffton on Thursday, May 28 at 4:30 p.m. The Bluffton/L-B victor will play the survivor between third seed Paulding (9-10) and sixth seed Fostoria.