This article was written by Harley Johnson, Northmont High School Surge Assistant Editor-in-Chief, for Englewood Independent.

CLAYTON — Thursday, the Northmont varsity baseball team hosted Fairmont in the first round of the Sectional Tournament.

Northmont pulled out the victory 10-9, after being down by 7 runs in the fourth inning.

In the first inning, Fairmont was first up at bat with Tommy Bell hitting a double off of pitcher Ryan Pullins. Northmont switched pitchers during the first inning after Pullins gave up 3 runs and struck 2 of Fairmont’s batters. Northmont’s Cole Stephens took the mound with Fairmont’s bases loaded at the top of the first inning. The inning ended with Fairmont leading 3-1.

After Collin Hobert scored during the second inning, the Bolts were down 3-2 in the third. At the top of the third inning, Fairmont’s Colton Hicks got picked off at first base by Will Ludington to end the inning with Fairmont only gaining one run.

Northmont was scoreless during the third inning, while Fairmont went on to score 5 runs at the top of the inning, putting Northmont down 9-2. Northmont answered in the bottom of the fourth when Adam Bendinelli scored on a sacrifice fly by Caden Cronebach, followed by Cole Stephens and Caden Cronebach reaching home on a double by Thomas Walsh.

At the top of the fifth inning, three Fairmont players struck out with Tyler Defibaugh on the mound. At the bottom of the fifth, Defibaugh bunted to get first. Adam Bendinelli then hit the ball to Fairmont’s pitcher, but the pitcher overthrew to first, allowing Defibaugh and Bendinelli to advance. The fifth inning ended with Fairmont in the lead 9-7.

The Thunderbolts  eventually tied the game 9-9 with Thomas Walsh scoring on a double by Dylan Guth, and Nick Moomey scoring on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Defibaugh.

After Fairmont left three runners stranded on base with no one scoring during the seventh inning, Northmont entered the inning hoping to bring one runner in. With one out, Caden Cronebach made an infield hit and later stole second. The Firehawks intentionally walked Thomas Walsh. The next batter, Nick Moomey, was hit by the pitcher and walked to first. With the bases loaded, Cronebach scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Dylan Guth. The Bolts pulled out the victory 10-9 with only one out in the seventh inning.

“We gave up a lot of runs and we need to work on controlling the ball better, but overall we gave a great fight,” said Northmont Coach Chuck Harlow.

NMT 110 322 1

FAIRMONT 301 500 0