By Ezra Deitering, Bluffton University sports information assistant
The Beavers baseball team made their way to Bishop Chatard High School in Indianapolis, Ind., on Saturday, April 2, to square off in a doubleheader with Franklin College to open Heartland Conference play. Bluffton fell to 6-11 overall and 0-2 in the HCAC, while Franklin upped its mark to 17-5 and 2-0 in the conference.
After guiding the Bluffton boys varsity basketball team to a surprise championship season, veteran Pirate mentor Todd Boblitt swept league, district and even state coaching honors.
On the heels of their record-setting campaign, Boblitt was recently voted by the state sportswriters as Ohio Div. III Coach of the Year to cap the award season with a flourish. Before that honor was bestowed, he was also named Northwest district and Northwest Conference Coach of the Year by his peers after leading the Pirates to a 7-1 league mark, a co-league title and a 21-3 overall record.
Liberty-Benton scored five first-inning runs and went on to defeat the visiting Bluffton High School baseball team 8-3 in a non-conference contest Wednesday evening, March 30.
The Pirates inched within 5-3 after three innings with the aid of two Eagle errors. But the hosts tacked on three runs in the fourth and fifth frames to put the game out of reach.
Eagle starter Trevin Lieb earned the pitching win and slapped an RBI single. He gave up just one hit and no runs over four innings, and struck out seven Pirates.
Visiting Carey scored five runs in their final at bat to overcome a two-run deficit and edge the Bluffton High School softball team 10-9 in a wild season opener on a cold Tuesday evening, March 29.
The Pirate girls (0-1) trailed 5-0 after four innings, but rallied with an explosive seven-run fifth frame.
Yet Carey regained the lead with five runs in the seventh. Bluffton threatened to come back by plating two runs in the home seventh, but came up just short.
