By Cort Reynolds
FINDLAY - The visiting Bluffton softball squad swept a high-scoring twinbill at non-league foe Liberty-Benton Saturday.
The wins upped the Lady Pirate record to 6-1.
Bluffton won the opener 8-5 behind the pitching and hitting of Libby Schaadt. In game two, the Pirates held off an eight-run rally by L-B in the bottom of the seventh to preserve a 19-18 victory.
By Cort Reynolds
BLUFFTON - Host Bluffton blanked Celina 5-0 in boys tennis action Thursday evening.
Drew Wilson won 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 at first singles to get the Pirates off to a good start.
Mack Burner rallied to win a tight three-setter at second singles by a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) count via a decisive tiebreaker.
Jordan Siefer rolled to a 6-1, 6-1 win at third singles.
Grant Klinger and Eden Nygaard teamed up to win 6-2, 6-0 at first doubles. Tre Bender and Bryan Zimmerman made it a clean sweep at second doubles with a 6-2, 6-2 victory.
By Cort Reynolds
BLUFFTON - The visiting Ada softball team lost an 11-3 decision at Bluffton in the Northwest Conference opener on a chilly Thursday evening.
The purple and gold dropped to 2-3 and 0-1 in the NWC with the defeat. Bluffton improved to 4-1 and 1-0 in league play with the victory.
The Pirates scored in all six frames they batted. They tallied two times in the first and three more in the second to take a 5-2 lead. Two runs in each of the third and fourth frames extended the margin to 9-2.
By Cort Reynolds
ADA - The host Ada baseball team ran out to a big early lead and held off rival Bluffton 13-10 in the Northwest Conference opener on a cool, windy Thursday evening.
The Bulldogs improved to 4-3 and 1-0 in the NWC with the league victory, while the Pirates fell to 1-5 and 0-1 with the loss.
Bluffton was the home team even though the game was switched to the Ada park diamond.
The purple and gold scored three first inning runs, then added six more scores in the second frame to build a big 9-0 early lead.
By Cort Reynolds
BLUFFTON - Bluffton had numerous student-athletes named to the Northwest Conference winter sports scholar list recently. The entire NWC list is attached at the bottom.
Criteria for inclusion are that students must be a letter winner in their sport and meet the following GPA requirements:
Gold level 3.50 and above
Silver level 3.00 - 3.49
By Cort Reynolds
BLUFFTON - The Bluffton boys tennis team dropped a tough 4-1 decision to visiting Defiance Monday evening.
Drew Wilson recorded the lone Pirate win at first singles by a 6-4, 6-2 score over Jamal Caesar.
Defiance won in straight sets at second and third singles, as well as number two doubles. They also rallied to win in three sets at first doubles over the Bluffton duo of Grant Klinger and Eden Nygaard.
The Pirate netmen are scheduled to host Celina Thursday.
