Norwood Pirates beat Hartville, Fordland

Norwood is entering this week’s Summit Conference baseball tournament as the No. 7 seed, but you would not know it after they beat two of the top three seeds this past week.
Their first win came over No. 1 seed Hartville, 3-1, after breaking a tie in the top of the eighth inning.
Pierce Lawson had an RBI single and Carson Vaughan scored on an error to help the Pirates pull away for good.
Pitcher Caden Black induced three ground outs in the Eagles’ final at-bat to seal the win.
Lawson had two RBIs on the day while Vaughan scored twice and Wyatt Bolfing scored one run.
Black tossed seven scoreless innings and gave up one hit with seven strikeouts and one walk. Holten Lopez tossed one scoreless inning of work.
Hartville’s offense was led by Brodyn Hulsey’s RBI and Gus Sinning scoring one run.
Gus also tossed seven and a third scoreless innings, giving up two earned runs on one hit with an astounding 16 strikeouts and four walks.
Cole Sinning tossed two-thirds of a scoreless inning and gave up one hit.
One day later, the Pirates traveled to Fordland, the No. 3 seed in the tournament, and left with a 10-0 win.
Norwood scored four runs in both the fourth and seventh innings to pull away for the big win.
Vaughan had two hits and two RBIs; Black had two RBIs; Payton McCune and Bolfing each had one RBI and scored twice; Carder Kelly added one RBI and one run scored; while Drae Bradshaw and Lopez each scored twice.
Laken Coatney tossed seven scoreless innings and allowed four hits with six strikeouts and two walks.
On Thursday, the Pirates added an 11-1 win over Seymour.
Lopez had four RBIs and one run scored; Vaughan had one RBI and one run scored; Kelly scored three times; Coatney had one RBI and two runs scored; and Lawson scored twice.
Lopez tossed five innings and gave up one earned run on three hits with six strikeouts and one walk. Vaughan tossed a scoreless inning and allowed one hit with one strikeout.
If Norwood wins their first two games of the tournament just after press time, they will play for a championship at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 9 in Hartville.
The Eagles enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed, but they have lost four straight games before the event.