Trevor Spence
RICHMOND, Ind. – The Union City baseball team survived a furious rally on Saturday by Blue River to advance to the Class 1A sectional championship on Monday.
“We’re playing on Monday and that’s what we wanted,” Union City Head Coach Bill Bradbury said. “We didn’t finish as as strong as we had (been) during the game.”
The Indians (10-11) meet top-ranked Hagerstown (21-3) on John Cate Field at McBride Stadium Monday at 5 p.m.
Trevor Spence had a no-hitter through five innings as the Indians built a 6-0 advantage.
Spence surrendered a hit with one out in the sixth when Blue River’s Noah Brown singled. The Vikings eventually scored to make it 6-1.
In the seventh, Blue River scored four times to pull to within a run.
“We rode him a little bit,” Bradbury said of Spence. “We wanted to stick with him. We knew he was past the point of being able to pitch on Monday.”
“We probably went just a little bit too long with him,” Bradbury continued. “He pitched one heck of a game.”
Nicholas Wells was able to finish the contest and preserve the win for the Indians. Wells gave up a hit and then picked off a base runner at third to end the contest.
Spence led Union City’s offense with three hits, while Wells and Cameron Luster added two hits each.
Gabe Loesch knocked in a pair of runs for the Indians.