When he hit a two-run single with one out in the top of the third against Wellsville-Middletown on April 25, Jace Ellis breathed a sigh of relief.

The Montgomery County sophomore third baseman finally got his first hit against W-M pitcher Dylan Alsop.

“He had his way with me the first five times I faced him,” Ellis said. “I finally got to him. All I did was put the bat on the ball and hope to hit it hard.”

Ellis’ big hit scored Travis Hill and Ethan Rakers and broke a scoreless tie. The Wildcats went on to win 12-0 over the Tigers in a contest between cross-county rivals at W-M.

Ellis also was valuable on defense as he made two superb plays from third base. In the bottom of the fourth, he fielded a backhanded grounder from W-M catcher CJ Curd and threw him out. Two innings later, Ellis caught a line drive that was hit by Tim Cash for the third out.

Ellis said he was amazed that he caught Cash’s line drive with the sun facing towards him.

“The sun was right in my eyes,” Ellis said. “I saw the ball hit and I was reacting to it. Luckily, he hit it right at me.”

Senior Evan Abercrombie, sophomore Dayton Simmons, junior Travis Hill and freshman Tatum Wessel combined for the one-hit shutout on the mound. They combined for 11 strikeouts.

The Wildcats’ no-hit bid was broken up with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, when W-M junior Lucas Moore singled to center.

Moore earned the Tigers’ Hard Hat of the Game award, which is given to the most outstanding player in each game.

Moore said despite the loss, he was thrilled to play against MCHS. In December, he helped his basketball team knock off the Wildcats in the Pink Out game.

“It’s fun to play,” Moore said. “It’s a big rivalry. You never know what to expect, especially after what happened at Pink Out basketball.”

MCHS scored three runs in the third, one in the fourth, two in the fifth, two in the sixth and fourth in the seventh.

Abercrombie and sophomore Mason Leu each had two hits.
The Tigers dropped to 1-7 with the loss to MCHS. It was their first game in 14 days.

“For a school that’s four times our size, I still think we competed,” W-M coach Justin Caldwell said. “In my opinion, we’re in the most difficult conference in the entire state for a school our size. We’re the only Class 1 school in this conference. We still come ready to play in every game and ready to compete.”

Last spring, Ellis earned a first-team all-EMO utility player award for his outstanding freshman season. He played third base and did some pitching.

Ellis, who plays for the US Nationals select team during the off-season, credits his teammates for his big honor.

“It was more about our team playing well,” the sophomore said. “That’s what happened. When your team wins a lot of games, a lot of guys get honors at the end of the year. I put together a pretty good year. I thought I could have been better, but it goes to all of the other guys.”

Now, Ellis is setting his sights on helping his team turn in a memorable 2022 season. With the win over the Tigers, the Wildcats improved to 6-5, making it the first time this season they climbed over the .500 mark.

“We’re trying to win a conference championship this year,” Ellis said. “We have every player that we need to do it and make a deep run in the playoffs later this year. We have all of the guys to do it.”