Game Recaps

Diamond Elite couldn't hold on to a 5-1 sixth inning lead and fell to the Flash Blue by a final score of 6-5 in seven innings.

DE lost 11-1 to the Cincinnati Mustangs in game 3 of the Regional Tournament.  There's not much more to say about that one.

Diamond Elite could not get the offense going in game 2 of the SWOL Regional Tounament and fell 6-0 to the Cincinnati Sluggers.

Diamond Elite started off the SWOL National League Regional tournament with a win over JB Yeager.  DE jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning and it looked like that might be enough as starter Nick Hofmeier was able to shutout Yeager for four innings.  The lead was increase in the top of the fourth thanks to good baserunning and big two-out hits from Nick and Jon Sandman which scored three.  JB Yeager was able to close the gap  to 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth, but Sandman came in to close out the game and preserve the victory.

Pitching and defense carried this team through a very tough part of the schedule earlier in the year.  This was definitely not the case in the 14-13 win over the Mason Dynamite.  Dynamite scored early and often posting multiple runs (many unearned) in each of the first four innings.  The DE offense saved the day coming from behind in every inning and finally carrying a one run lead into the sixth inning.  Pitcher Bradley Getz was able to get the first two outs in the top of the sixth, but the Dynamite managed to load the bases in the process.  Trey Green was brought in from shortstop to try to get the final out and he was able to strikeout the final batter on four pitches.  Offensively, every player on the team reached base in the game with Mike Nelson driving in 3 runs and Jacob Owens, Nick Hofmeier, and Hayden Hoogerhyde driving in 2 each.

Diamond Elite fell 8-3 to the Warren County Swarm (Black) with a somewhat lackluster performance all around.  The Swarm was able to take an early 3-0 lead throught the first three innings and then tacked on another 5 in the fourth due in part to a few walks and throwing errors by DE.  Offensively DE had trouble catching up to the hard throwing starter for the Swarm and the few scoring opportunities did not produce enough results.  DE was able to push across a few runs late in the game and were threatening more in the final inning but eventually fell short.  The loss ended the ten game win streak, so the team will be looking to rebound Saturday in the final division game and will hope to take some momentum into the post-season.

Diamond Elite notched their 10th straight win defeating Kinect Ripken 9-6.  The game seemed well in hand as DE scored in nearly every inning led by Jon Sandman who was 3-for-3 with 2 RBI.  Daniel Wagner and Trey Green also added two hits each and Neil Matthews drove in two runs with a big double down the left field line.  The pitching and defense was solid for 5 innings and DE led 9-1 going into the bottom of the sixth.  That's where things got more interesting than they needed to be when too many walks and a couple of hits got Kinect back in the game.  Kinect managed to load the bases and had the go ahead run at the plate before DE was able to close the game out.

DE took on the Wolfpack from Warren County in a tough inter-division battle and it went right down to the wire.  The Wolfpack took an early one run lead in the first inning, but they were shut out the next four innings thanks to solid pitching from Jon Sandman and Nick Hofmeier, and good defense behind them.  Defensive highlights included a runner gunned down at second by center fielder Bradly Getz and a put out at home on a throw from Mike Nelson to catcher Trey Green.  DE managed to push across runs in the third and fifth inning with key RBIs from Trey and the team took a 2-1 lead to the final inning.  The Wolfpack was able to push across a run in the top of the sixth with a couple of big two out hits.  DE seemed to go into the bottom of the inning with a lot of confidence, knowing that they had what it takes to pull this one off and that's what they did.  Kaleb Ford led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch.  Bradley then laid down a nice sacrifice bunt to move him to third.  That set the stage for Nick's big game winning drive to right-center and the boys sent their fans home happy.

Pitching and defense once again returned as the key to victory in a 2-0 win over the Lakota Lightning.  Bradley Getz, Hayden Hoogerhyde, and Jon Sandman combined to pitch the shutout.  Although several Lightning batter reached base, the pitchers battled hard and the defense was solid as the Lightning were forced to strand runners at third base in five of the six innings.  Big hits late in the game from Nick Hofmeier and Cameron Wissel fueled a two run fifth inning to push DE to their eigth straight victory.

In recent games it has been the pitching and defense that has won games for Diamond Elite.  This time is was the offense that led DE to a 17-7 win over the PYO Patriots.  DE jumped out to an early 9-0 with all 11 players reaching base in the first inning.  The Patriots tried to chip away at the lead, but the Diamond Elite bats continued to ring keeping the game out of reach. Another good league win extending the win streak to 7.

Diamond Elite continued their winnning ways with a 10-3 victory over the Cincinnati Diamond Dawgs.  Pitching and defense was solid and Mike Nelson led the offense with two run scoring doubles.  Jacob Owens and Trey Green also added two hits each.

Diamond Elite eeked out a 4-2 win over the Fairfield Braves on a hot Tuesday night.  On paper this one shouldn't have been as close as it was, but that's why you play the game.  DE pitching was solid with Mike Nelson, Keegan Corbett, and Hayden Hoogerhyde allowing only two runs on four hits.  Unfortunately the offense seemed to take the night off and the team trailed 2-1 going into the final two innings of the game.  DE got big RBI hits off the bats of Kaleb Ford and Jon Sandman late in the game, and Hayden was able to close out the Braves for the victory.

Diamond Elite's win streak hit four with a 13-0 win over the Lebanon Tomahawks.  Trey Green, Kaleb Ford, and Jacob Owens combined to pitch a one-hitter with no walks. The offense was a total team effort with Kaleb, Trey, Jacob, Bradley Getz, Mike Nelson, and Jon Sandman all notching multi-hit games.  Extra base hits included a triple from Kaleb and doubles from Keegan Corbett, Neil Matthews, Trey, and Mike. This was a good win as the team continues to strive for another league title.

Recap from Jason...

Timely offense and some sharp defensive plays push DE past a strong 10U Heat National team.  Three runs from Jacob Owens and three hits from Cameron Wissel led the offensive push.  A sneaky slide by Hayden Hoogerhyde to beat the tag at home on a Keegan Corbett hit to left-center tied the game in the bottom of the seventh.  With all the commotion at the plate, Keegan aggressively moved to third, making Jon Sandman's hard grounder to second an easy winner.  The Heat hit the ball well and often, leading to a diving catch in the outfield by Bradley Getz and a stabbed hard liner to Neil Matthews at third.  This see-saw battle was never out of reach for either team, and neither team was prepared to let up.  A gritty DE win in another close game - the DE momentum is building as we head to a stretch of American North league games.

Recap from Jason... 

DE ride 6 hit 3rd inning including long ball from Nick Hofmeier to victory over Bandits.  The offense had the start they've been looking for by scoring 10 runs in the first three frames.  After that outburst, the DE bats went cold.  Infield fly-outs and improved Bandits defense limited the DE to one more than the minimum hitters over the last three innings.  The persistent Bandits turned the rout around, had the tying run headed to second with one out in the 6th when pitcher Neil Matthews cut off a throw from center field and gunned down the baserunner at second.  Jon Sandman took the mound in relief, struck out the Bandits' last chance on four pitches, and the DE win was preserved..

For the second time in four days, Diamond Elite faced the Dayton Dodgers.  This time is was a tough league game that was battled to the very end.  The Dodgers took and early 1-0 lead in the first, but DE pushed across two runs in the third.  The lead stood at 2-1 until the top of the 5th when the Dodgers got an unearned run to tie the game.  With both teams not scoring in the 6th, the game went to extra innings.  Trey Green was able to blank the Dodgers in the top half of the 7th and DE was able to score the winning run thanks to the aggressive baserunning of Mike Nelson.  DE got excellent pitching from Bradley Getz, Jon Sandman, and Trey.  The offense struggled a bit, with the only hits coming off of the bats of Jacob Owens (2-2) and Trey Green (1-2), but moving runners into scoring position and good baserunning was all that was needed in this one.

The semi-final game in the SWOL Sub-Regional matched up Diamond Elite with the Dayton Dodgers, who dominated pool play scoring double digit runs in each game.  DE was determined not to let the Dodgers dominate this game.  Daniel Wagner, Mike Nelson, and Jon Sandman provided solid pitching and the defense was aggressive behind them.  The game was all knotted up at 3-3 through five innings, but the home team Dodgers were able to push across a run in the sixth to steal the victory.  The defensive highlight in the game came on a bloop fly ball that looked sure to hit the ground until a sprawling Keegan Corbett made the catch coming in hard from left field.  DE catchers Trey Green and Cameron Wissel also provided highlights, each throwing out a runner trying to steal second.

DE set the tone early in this game, batting around in the first inning and putting nine runs on the board.  They never let up from there finishing the game with a 19-1 run rule victory over the Lakota Diamond Dawgs.  Mike Nelson, Keegan Corbett, and Cameron Wissel provided solid pitching and every player on the team reached base at some point.  Trey Green led the offense going 3-for-3 and Bradley Getz, Neil Matthews, Jon Sandman, and Daniel Wagner added two hits a piece.  The win puts Diamond Elite in the Semi-Finals on Monday against the Dayton Dodgers.

The DE boys were able to shake off the problems of earlier in the day and played a much better game against the Butler County Bandits in game 2 of the SWOL Sub-Regional.  Beating the same team three times in a season is tough to do, but that is what Diamond Elite did with this 9-6 victory.  The defense was stout in this one and highlights included a runner gunned down at second by catcher Trey Green and a stellar 1-6-3 double play by Nick Hofmeier, Kaleb Ford, and Neil Matthews.  The offense was led by Jacob Owens and Trey who both had two hits in the game.

There's no real way to sugar coat this one.  Diamond Elite played their worst game of the year committing error after error and fell 21-9 to the Anderson Eagles in the opening game of the SWOL Sub-Regional.  The poor defense ruined what was a pretty good day offensively.  Kaleb Ford and Bradley Getz led the offense with two hits each.

Early on, the game versus the Ohio Heat seemed as though it could go either way with the game going back and forth through three innings and the score tied 3-3.  DE had a little bad luck with two players having to leave the game due to injury, including Bradley Getz who was nailed in the elbow by a fastball and Mike Nelson still suffering from a nagging hip pointer.  Unfortunately both players were tabbed by the coaches to pitch in this game.  The fourth inning got away from the team with too many walks, errors and a couple of bloop singles. The Heat managed to push across 8 runs in the inning, which proved too much for DE to overcome.  Not that the team didn't try to battle back, as they did manage to chip away at the lead. The final score of this one was 14-7.  The offensive highlight of the game was a two run double off the bat of Neil Matthews.

The West Chester May Classic ended with a wimper for DE as they fell 7-5 to the Ross Rams.  Diamond Elite just could not get the offense going in this game as they continued to struggle hitting the slower pitchers.  Kaleb Ford and Daniel Wagner both had nice games offensively with two hits each.

DE got off to a slow start Sunday morning, but picked it up as the game went on and easily defeated the Fairfield Braves 12-5 in the third game of the May Classic.  Kaleb Ford, Nick Hofmeier, Jacob Owens, and Jon Sandman each had two hits in the game.

Diamond Elite took no time off as they started game 2 of the May Classic immediately after the game 1 win.  Things started slow, but DE managed to get out to a 2-1 lead early in the game.  Unfortunately there wasn't much more offense after that as the team fell behind 5-2 after 5 innings.  The boys did stay focused and managed to get a run across in the final inning and had runners in position to tie the game.  It just wasn't to be in this game, but the team is sure to regroup for the final two in the tournament.

Diamond Elite defeated the Lakota Diamond Dawgs in game one of the West Chester May Classic.  DE jumped out to an early 6-0 lead but the game was far from over at that point.  The Dawgs mounted fourth and fifth inning rallies to take a 9-6 lead.  The boys showed their determination, scoring 7 runs of their own in the bottom of five and shut down the Dawgs in the sixth for a 13-7 win.  Certainly not the prettiest game played, but a nice win to start the tourney.

Get 'em on, Get 'em over, Get 'em in!  That's exactly what Diamond Elite was able to do 5 times against the Ohio Diamond Dawgs in notching the 5-1 victory.  This was a total team effort as the pitching was excellent, defense was solid, and offense was efficient.  The Dawgs were only able to score one unearned run as pitchers Bradley Getz and Jon Sandman took care of batter after batter.  The offense did exactly what they needed in producing their 5 runs on 12 hits, all of which were singles.  Keegan Corbett, Mike Nelson, Nick Hofmeier and Trey Green all finished with two hits on the night.  The boys did an excellent job of staying focused in a tough league game in between tournament weekends.

A combination of fatigue, bad luck, and solid play by the opponent cost Diamond Elite in the championship game of the Playbaseball.info National Championship Invitational. DE fell 8-0 to the Cincinnati Riverdawgs of the SWOL National Division.  An unexpectedly long delay after the semi-final game took a little wind out of the DE sails and the Riverdawgs were able to bring their hot bats right over from their nail-biting semi-final win.  It seemed as though every ball that was hit hard by a DE batter ended up being right at a Dawgs defender and the Dawg hits found holes and took bad hops.  Playing five games in two days is not an easy task, but the Diamond Elite boys really showed what they're made of and should hold their heads high with a solid runner-up performance.

Diamond Elite put together a dominating 8-1 win over the Westerville Wildcats in the semi-finals of the Playbaseball.info National Championship Invitational.  Daniel Wagner gave the team four solid innings on the mound the combination of Nick Hofmeier and Cameron Wissel closed out the game.  This was the fourth game in a row that DE played nearly flawless defense and got key hits when needed.  The win take Diamond Elite to their first championship game of the young season.

It took an extra inning, but Diamond Elite was able to take a 10-8 win over the Wapakoneta Redskins.  DE took an early lead and held onto it until the bottom of the 6th when the Redkins were able to tie the score 8-8.  Playing by Ohio Shootout rules, runners were placed on first and second to start the first extra inning.  It looked as though DE might go without scoring as the boys were a bit baffled by the breaking balls thrown by the Redskins, but Kaleb Ford was able to wait on his pitch a drive the ball to right field scoring two.  That was all that was needed as the Redskings were held scoreless in the bottom of the inning.  The perfect 3-0 sweep of Pool A gave Diamond Elite the #1 seed going into the single elimination round of the tourney.

The four hour rest in between game seemed to be exactly what the Diamond Elite boys needed as the pounded out hit after hit beating the Kentucky Stix 13-2 in the second game of the Playbaseball.info tournament.  The team showed extraordinary determination in this game, scoring the majority of their runs with two outs.  This was the second game in a row with no errors and the pitchers held the opponent to few hits again.  This was a perfect finish to a great start to the tournament. The win secures the team's spot in the semi-final round of the tournament tomorrow.

Great job!  Keep it going boys!

Diamond Elite took advantage of opponent miscues in game 1 of the Playbaseball.info tournament beating the Butler County Bandits 6-0.  Pitching and defense was the story of the game as the boys commited no errors and allowed few hits.  The offense wasn't exactly dialed in, but much better things were to come (see game 2 recap).  This was a great way to get the tournament started.

The last time this Diamond Elite team lost an inter-division league game was May 2, 2009.  That streak came to and end with a 6-1 loss to the Warren County Swarm (Yellow).  After scoring 27 runs in the double header over the weekend, the bats were quiet in this one.  There were a few opportunities to score with runners in scoring position, but the key hits just did not come.  Give credit to a talented Swarm team as they did what they needed to do to push runs across.  Hopefully a new inter-league win streak will start again.

The Diamond Elite crew put together the perfect storm of pitching, defense and offense to record a 17-0 win over the Cincinnati Bulldogs in game 2 of the twin bill.  Daniel Wagner, Jacob Owens, and Kaleb Ford combined for a four inning no-hitter and were only one walk away from a perfect game.  The Diamond Elite offense could not be stopped in this one, with nearly every player on the team crossing the plate.  Jacob Owens went three-for-three, including two perfectly placed bunt singles (his second and third on the day).  Bradley Getz, Mike Nelson, and Jon Sandman were all two-for-two.  The boys played four innings of error-free defense as the team completed the run-rule victory and swept the double header.

Diamond Elite improved their league record to 3-0 with a dominating 10-4 victory over the Cincinnati Bulldogs in Anderson.  Mike Nelson, Bradley Getz, Jon Sandman, and Hayden Hoogerhyde pitched very well and the defense was solid behind them.  Offensively every single player on the team had a hit in this game, with Kaleb Ford going 3-for-3 and scoring 3 times.  This was a very solid team witn from top to bottom.

Diamond Elite defeated the Lakota Diamond Dawgs 13-4 by pounding out 14 hits in their five at-bats.  Starting pitcher Trey Green gave up only one run and relievers Nick Hofmeier and Keegan Corbett closed out the Dawgs in fine fashion.  Offensive standouts included 2 hits and 3 RBI each from Mike Nelson and Trey.  Keegan, Bradley Getz, and Neil Matthews also had 2-hit games.  The defensive highlight was a nice diving catch in the final inning by Neil (while wearing a first baseman mitt)!  The win takes DE's league record to 2-0.

Diamond Elite needed an extra inning to take out the Heaters on a rather cold, windy night at Walter J. Long.  The Heaters took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning, but DE managed to get that back and maintained a small lead throughout the game.  DE took a 6-4 lead to the bottom of the 6th when the Heater pushed across a couple of runs on some strange plays.  One batter reached base on a swinging third strike that bounced in front of the plate and squirted away.  Another produced an RBI on a swinging "bunt" that dribbled down the 3rd base line.  The Diamond Elite boys were not discouraged and broke out an offensive attack in the top of the 7th, scoring 6 runs.  With the light fading, the DE coaches decided to give up the 3rd out as the Heaters tried to make a second pitching change in the inning.  There was just enough light left for Jon Sandman to take the mound and close out the Heaters.  Offensively, Diamond Elite got multi-hit games from Kaleb Ford, Bradley Getz, and Nick Hofmeier.

For the second day in a row, Diamond Elite faced tough national league competition in the Cincinnati Sluggers.  And once again it was one costly inning that was too much to overcome.  This time it came early as DE surrendered 6 runs in the top of the first.  The team battled hard and cut the lead to 8-5 late in the game.  There were plenty of opportunities to make it even closer, as bases were loaded with no outs twice, but only one run resulted.  The final score of 9-5 ended the Spring Swing for the Diamond Elite crew.

Diamond Elite put together a solid offensive and defensive effort against the Ross Rams to bring home a 5-2 win in the second game of the Spring Swing Tourney.  Even though it seemed that many of the DE hard hit balls were right at defenders, the boys managed to come up with key hits at the right time to push across the 5 runs.  Pitchers managed to get out of trouble time and time again and held the Rams to only 2.

Diamond Elite battled one of the top national league teams play for play and hit for hit early on in the first round of the Spring Swing tournament.  With the game tied 3-3, the Butler County Bombers made DE pay for too many walks by scoring 10 runs on only a few hits.  The outburst was enough to close out the game at a score of 13-3.  So far this year, Diamond Elite has showed that they can play with some of the best if only they can eliminate that one big inning.

Diamond Elite defeated the Lakota Lightning 17-5 in a game that saw almost every DE player reach base.  DE jumped out to an early lead, scoring 7 runs in the first inning and never looked back.  Pitching and defense was good enough to maintain a comfortable lead throughout the game.  The offense scored 17 runs on 17 hits, highlighted by 3 hit games from Kaleb Ford, Jacob Owens, and Cameron Wissel. 

Diamond Elite and the Cincinnati Bulldogs battled for nearly three hours in very cold weather in a game in which both clubs featured solid offense and sloppy defense.  The Bulldogs jumped out to a lead in the top half nearly every inning only to find DE come right back.  In the end, the comeback fell short as Diamond Elite fell 16-14 (I think. I'll correct that if it's wrong).  The offensive highlights included two doubles to the fence by Daniel Wagner and a 2-run home run over the fence in straight away center by Mike Nelson.  The home run marks the first ever to clear the fence in team history.  Congrats Mike.

It wasn’t the offensive explosion that we hoped for but Diamond Elite managed to grind out a 3-0 win over the Cincinnati Dragons (Green).  The runs came thanks to RBI from Jacob Owens, Hayden Hoogerhyde and Mike Nelson.  Pitching was once again great as Trey Green and Jon Sandman each pitched 3 scoreless innings.  A nice win to start off league play.

The Diamond Elite bats finally woke up, putting four runs on the board in the first inning against the Ohio Diamond Dawgs.  The boys continued to dominate taking a 7-2 lead into the final inning, but it wasn't enough as the Dawgs exploded for eight runs thanks to some aggressive hitting and a few defensive errors.  DE went quietly in the bottom of six losing 10-7.  A disappointing end, but overall a pretty well played weekend.

In the second game of the Quest for the Best tournament, the pitching was once again outstanding.  Trey Green and Jon Sandman each pitched three innings of one run baseball.  Unfortunately the offense could not get it going against a solid Riverbats defense and DE suffered their first loss of the season 2-1.  This was a very well played game that easily could have gone either way.

Diamond Elite won their first game of the 2010 season 3-1 over the Ohio Diamond Dawgs in the first round of the Quest for the Best tournament at Rumpke Park.  The boys played solid defense behind outstanding pitching from Nick Hofmeier and Mike Nelson, each pitching 3 innings.  Many of the hard hit balls seemed to be right at a solid Dawgs defense, but the DE offense managed to manufacture 3 runs with a few timely hits.  Defensive highlights included a fine catch in left field by Hayden Hoogerhyde as he fought off gusting winds and an excellent put out at the plate on a heads up play by Bradley Getz at third throwing to Trey Green who blocked the plate and put on the tag.

This was a good start to the tournament and the season.