By Nicholas Huenefeld

Special to the Sentinel-Tribune

PEMBERVILLE — Tristan Schuerman’s RBI double deep into the left center field gap on Saturday night gave Pemberville Post 183 a thrilling 4-3 walk-off win over Ottawa Post 63 in the loser’s bracket championship of the American Legion district tournament at Chopper Schmeltz Field.

With the victory, which was Pemberville’s second walk-off win of the day, the Steam advances to the championship round against Findlay Post 3 at noon on Sunday. They would need to win twice to claim the crown.

Schuerman exploded for a 3-for-4 performance against Ottawa that included two runs and the game-winning double, which came after he opened the tournament 0-for-8.

“I just slowed things down,” Schuerman said. “I think I was trying to do too much. It was a close game. We were playing well. Everybody was into it. I just needed to slow myself down, look for what I wanted and hit it.”

Schuerman and his Owens Community College teammate, Kale Wilkins, combined to play a large role in giving Pemberville a 3-0 lead through five innings.

Schuerman scored the game’s first run in the third as he singled to short with one out before coming around on a double to right center from Wilkins.

“(Tristan) is just the catalyst that pushes this team,” Pemberville coach Jacob McNulty said. “When he’s going, we seem to do well. He can do it all.”

Jase Kennedy’s leadoff double produced the Steam’s second run in the fifth as Chase Dussel’s RBI groundout scored him. With two outs and nobody on after that, Schuerman singled through the right side and scored on another double to right from Wilkins for a 3-0 lead.

Drew Kachmarik, meanwhile, held Ottawa to just two hits through five innings before allowing his first run on back-to-back doubles in the sixth.

“Drew doesn’t throw hard, but he throws strikes,” McNulty said. “He pitches outs. That’s all I want him to do. We’ve got a great defense behind him. Just trust that and let them put the ball in play. We’ll make the play behind him.”

Drew Tucker, who ultimately got the win in relief, got the final out of the sixth on a grounder to second, setting up a 3-1 lead for Pemberville heading to the final inning.

Ottawa capitalized on an error, however, to produce two unearned runs on a pair of hits off Tucker in the seventh.

Pemberville answered with the game-winning rally in improbable fashion in the bottom half. After two quick outs, Dussell singled to right field, and Schuerman won the game the next at bat.

“It was huge,” Schuerman said. “That was two good games. I was really excited about the first one. This one got a little close at the end, but we pulled it out. We’re hyped and ready to win it (Sunday).”

Arbruster delivers win over Napoleon

Pemberville overcame a great outing from Northern Kentucky-bound Abe DeLano to produce a 2-1 win over the Napoleon Post 300 River Bandits in eight innings to open play Saturday.

With the victory, Pemberville eliminated the three-time defending district champions from the tournament.

“I told them it’s survive and advance,” McNulty said. “That’s all I needed them to do. The teams in this district are all great. Napoleon had 35 wins going into that game, and that was the first time we’ve beaten Ottawa this year.

“We just continued to battle back. They did exactly what I asked them to do. Hit and runs, bunts … just a great group of guys who didn’t want to give up playing baseball yet.”

Back-to-back walks in the third inning off DeLano eventually led to a 1-0 lead for Pemberville on an RBI groundout from Schuerman.

Napoleon’s Jacob Shadle answered in the fifth, doubling to right with one out and scoring on a fielder’s choice three batters later.

Delano had a dominant performance through his seven full innings, where he allowed just two hits and three walks over 101 pitches.

Kennedy, meanwhile, was equally dominant on the mound for the Steam. He didn’t allow a hit until the fifth, where he stranded the bases loaded. Ultimately, he struck out eight through 6.1 innings.

“Jase was a bulldog,” McNulty said. “He’s a college guy, and he’s been in situations like this before. He battled through that fifth inning.”

Luke Armbruster entered in relief for Kennedy in the seventh, working out of a one-out, runner-on-second jam. He then retired three of the four batters he faced in the top of the eighth.

With one out and runners on first and second in the bottom of the inning, Armbruster delivered the game-winning, walk-off double to left center off Napoleon reliever, Trey Rubinstein.

Dussel, who had the game-winning run in both games on Saturday, came around to score on the play.

In fact, Dussel teamed with Carson Wilkins in the 8-9 spots of the lineup against Napoleon, and the duo finished a combined 2-for-4 with two runs, two walks and a stolen base.

“We battled at the plate,” McNulty said. “DeLano is a really good pitcher. They had no fear. (Dussel) has hit in the two-hole all year. I had him in the nine-spot as kind of a second leadoff to try and get something going down there.