Bedford vs Akron-Westfield
Akron-Westfield 3
Bedford 2 (9 Innings)
The 2024 State Baseball Tournament kicked off on Monday, with Akron-Westfield taking on Bedford. Nathan Gaswint started the top of the first striking out the first three batters he faced. In the home half of the first inning, Bedford was able to send Akron-Westfield in order on three straight groundballs to the second baseman Marcus Knighton. Bedford led the top of the second off with a single from Brody King. King was able to get to second on a sac bunt but was unable to come into score. Klemit Olney pitched a perfect first two innings for Bedford, sending the first six batters he faced back to the dugout. The game would remain tied going to the third inning at 0-0. Gaswint would second Bedford down in order on three strikeouts to start the third inning. Through three innings of work, Gaswint totaled seven strikeouts. Akron-Westfield would strike first in the ball game as they scored two runs on three hits in the home half of the third inning. Carter Wilken recorded an RBI triple in the inning. The Westerners would take a 2-0 lead going to the fourth inning.
Bedford gained some momentum in the fourth inning as they scored a couple of runs and then sent Akron-Westfield back to the dugout in order. The game would remain tied 2-2, going to the bottom of the fifth. Bedford led the top of the sixth inning off with a hit-by-pitch, getting a runner on base early. The Bulldogs were unable to score as the game would stay tied at 2-2 going to the home half of the sixth. We would remain tied going to the seventh inning as Akron-Westfield went in order in the home half of the sixth inning. Neither team scored in the seventh inning. Akron-Westfield was able to get the bases loaded with two outs but was unable to score. We would go to extra innings tied at 2-2. The game would remain tied at 2-2, going to the bottom of the 9th inning. With the bases load in the ninth, Carter Wilken of Akron-Westfield laid down a suicide squeeze as they would go on to win 3-2 in nine innings.
With the win, Akron-Westfield advances to the class 1A semi-finals. Bedford’s season ends at 20-11. Full stats from both teams are available below.
Akron-Westfield
Carter Wilken 2-5, 3B, 2 RBI, RS
Conner Wendel 1-5, RBI, BB
Laytin Koch 1-4
Will Hartman 1-4
Arik Allard 3-4, RS
Hayden Wahlberg 1-3, BB
Ashton McCully 1-3 – WP, 2 IP, H, 2 K, BB, HBP
Tayte Colt RS
Nathan Gaswint 7 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 H, 13 K, BB, HBP
Bedford
Tim Rodgers RS, BB
Silas Walston BB, HBP
Brody King 2-4, RS
Izaak Dukes 2-4, 2B, RBI
Graham Godsey RBI
Peyton Kerps 1-4
John Deemer HBP
Klemit Olney 7 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 6 H, 5 K, 2 BB
Marcus Knighton LP, 1 IP, R, ER, 4 H, HBP
Box Score
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Final
Bed 0 0 o 2 0 0 0 0 0 2
A-W o o 2 o o o o o 1 3
