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TORONTO -- The momentum built on Tuesday carried over to Wednesday.
The Toronto baseball team bounced back with a win Tuesday, and the team continued where it left against Madonna as the Red Knights tallied six runs in the bottom of the first inning and did not look back enroute to an 8-2 victory against the Blue Dons at the Knights Baseball Complex.
Freshman Aiden Filby pitched a no-hitter for Toronto Tuesday against Oak Glen as the Red Knights shut out the Golden Bears, 10-0, in five innings at the KBC. The game was originally scheduled to be played up at Oak Glen, but the game had to be moved due to the Golden Bears' field being unplayable.
The Red Knights scored 10 runs in their final four at-bats against Oak Glen before putting up six more in the first against their second straight opponent from Hancock County.
"Aiden did a great job," Toronto (11-7) head coach Brian Perkins said. "He pounded the strike zone. For a freshman to be able to do that, it is something special."
After shutting out the Golden Bears for five innings, the Red Knights held the Blue Dons scoreless for the first three innings before giving up a pair of runs in the fourth.
The Knights tallied 11 hits in each of the last two games.
"We carried yesterday's excitement over to today." Perkins said. "The kids were energetic. They played with a lot of emotion. They came ready to play. We had good at-bats, and we jumped on them early and that helped for sure."
Madonna entered the game dealing with a lot of adversity.
"The thing is -- we just talked to the kids about this -- we had some issues at school today, and we had a couple of kids suspended for the game; they weren't allowed to play," Madonna (7-11) head coach Jeff Baire said. "In the past, that first inning would have been a death sentence for us. We had another kid with a sugar issue. He had to go home. We had to go to his house and get him.
"We faced a lot of adversity. If you look at that first inning, in the past we wouldn't have had a shot. We would have played 4 1/2 innings, and the game would have been done with. We played that first inning today and we could have made excuses, but it's a maturation process. We were able to take that first inning, and then we played them to a 2-2 game the rest of the way. We didn't fall apart after that first inning.
"Brian does a phenomenal job. His teams are fundamentally sound. They do not make mistakes. If a team is struggling against them, they go on the offensive. They are a good team. They are a good program.
"Our kids did a great job. We are making progress. They responded after that first inning."
Both teams used three pitchers.
Blake Close started on the mound and collecting the win for hosts. Close struck out four and walked two in four innings of work on the mound. He was replaced to start the fifth by Evan Wolter, who started at catcher. Wolter struck out two without walking a batter in his two innings on the bump. Cole Barcus, who began the game at second base, came on to pitch in the seventh. Barcus did not record a strikeout or issue a walk in his one inning of work.
David Connors started and took the loss for Madonna. Connors did not record a strikeout while walking two in his one inning on the mound. Lucas McAllister came on to pitch to start the second. McAllister struck out one and walked one in his three innings of work. Sean Gilmore replaced McAllister to start the fifth, and he pitched the final two innings. He did not record a strikeout or a walk.
Nine of Toronto's 10 hits were singles.
Individually, Close contributed two singles and two RBI, Zane Kinsey collected a single and a triple and Nate Brownfield delivered two base hits. Also, Andy Silverthorn, Logan Sloane, Dom Bouscher and Wolter all tallied a single and an RBI, while Zeb Kinsey ended up with a double and an RBI.
All six of Madonna's hits were singles.
Luke Amaismeier and Brock Reinacher each recorded two hits, Brycen Hair contributed a single and an RBI and Koleton Grishkevich chipped in with one hit.
"Toronto is a young team, and we are a young team too," Baire said. "We started three freshmen and a sophomore. We are young, but we are coming along. We are 7-11. We are the opposite of Toronto.
"We played the No. 1 team in the state, and it was a 3-2 game in the seventh. We played the No. 1 team in Pittsburgh. They are about the size of Steubenville. We played the No. 1 team in Pittsburgh, and we played them to a 4-3 ballgame. We played the No. 5 team in the state.
"We are excited. I talked to you about all that adversity, and then we went on to only give up two runs the rest of the way. I am proud of our kids. They battled. They kept pushing."
After Close kept Madonna off the scoreboard in the first, Toronto erupted for six runs on six hits as the Red Knights sent 11 batters to the plate.
After a groundout, Zane Kinsey tripled and Wolter and Zeb Kinsey drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Close followed with a base hit scoring a pair to make the score 2-0. After a Brownfield base hit, Silverthorn singled home a run and Sloane and Bosucher plated runs with back-to-back two out hits.
In the fourth, Hair brought home a run with a groundout, while Reinacher scored the other run on a wild pitch as the Blue Dons cut their deficit down to 6-2.
"Jeff does a great job," Perkins said. "He has always done a good job. He's a championship coach. He's got a young team. They are headed in the right direction."
Toronto answered right back with a pair of runs in the home half of the inning to regain a six-run advantage. Wolter brought home a run with a groundout, and Zeb Kinsey played the other run with a double increasing Toronto's lead to 8-2.
Both teams are scheduled to play in the OVAC Finals Saturday out at Edison.
"We were just focused on today, honest to God," Perkins said. "We just want to keep getting better as the season goes on. We have talked about wanting to play our best ball come tournament time. We were focused on today. That is the approach we brought to the field."
Toronto is scheduled to play Wheeling Central in the 2A Final at 1:30 p.m., while Madonna is slated to play rival Cameron in the 1A Final at 4 p.m.
"It is a huge game Saturday," Baire said. "We lost to them 2-1, and we beat them, 8-2. I'm glutton for punishment. Friday, we play Robert C. Byrd. They are ranked No. 6 in Class AA.
"I'm not happy with the result. You always want to win, but I am super proud of my guys."
Both team's won their tournament semifinal games on the road. Toronto -- the No. 3 seed -- defeated No. 2 seed Frontier Friday, while No. 3 seed Madonna defeated No. 2 seed Trinity Christian Monday.
"We are excited here at Toronto," Perkins said. "The OVAC Tournament is a goal of ours every year. We have a young team this season, and are really excited to play against a really good Wheeling Central team."
Wheeling Central -- the No. 4 seed -- defeated No. 1 seed Shadyside this past Saturday, while No. 1 seed Cameron beat No. 4 seed Conotton Valley.
Filby struck out four and walked four en route to recording his no-hitter against the Golden Bears.
Offensively, Brownfield finished with two singles, a double and two RBI, Barcus recorded two singles and two RBI and Wolter delivered a single, a double and an RBI. Also, Zane and Zeb Kinsey each ended up with two singles, while Jayce Nett tallied a double.
Chase Patterson started on the hill and took the loss for Oak Glen. He did not record a strikeout while walking one in two innings of work. T.J. Decapio pitched the rest of the way, striking out two while walking one.
Toronto 8, Madonna 2
Madonna 0-0-0 2-0-0 0 – 2 6 0
Toronto 6-0-0 2-0-0 x – 8 11 2
MADONNA (7-11): Connors LP (1IP, 0K, 2BB), McAllister (3IP, 1K, 1BB), Gilmore (2IP, 0K, 0BB) and L. Amaismeier. Grishkevich S; L. Amaismeier 2S; Reinacher 2S; Hair S, RBI.
TORONTO (11-7): Close WP (4IP, 4K, 2BB), Wolter (2IP, 2K, 0BB), Barcus (1IP, 0K, 0BB) and Wolter and Derrington (5) and Wolter (7). Bouscher S, RBI; Za. Kinsey T, S; Wolter S, RBI; Ze. Kinsey D, RBI; Close 2S, 2RBI; Brownfield 2S; A. Silverthorn S, RBI; Sloane S, RBI.