Barnett's four-hitter leads Valley to 1-0 shutout win over Minford

LUCASVILLE — Nolan Barnett fired a four-hit shutout to lead the Valley Indians past Minford 1-0 on Monday in Southern Ohio Conference III baseball action at Valley High School.

The win puts Valley at 11-3 overall and 6-2 in the conference and puts them squarely in the hunt for either a share of the SOC III title or the conference crown outright.

Minford had a chance to clinch the title outright on Monday, but the loss puts them back to 13-2 and 7-2. The Falcons still have an opportunity to clinch a share of the SOC III Championship with a win over South Webster on Friday, May 8 in Minford, and with help could also win the league outright.

The only time Barnett faced more than three Minford hitters was in the top of the fourth inning when four Falcons came to the plate.

“It was all about hitting my spots,” Barnett said. “I try to put my team in the best position to make plays. I just throw it over the plate and let my defense make plays.”

The Valley defense was on display and turned two double plays to get Barnett out of potential trouble.

Right fielder Nick Queen made an over-the-shoulder catch and tuned and fired to first base to double off the Minford runner in the top of the first inning.

Then shortstop Thad Lansing stabbed a grounder up the middle and stepped on second base and fired to first for the inning-ending play in the top of the second.

“(Barnett), in my opinion, has been the best player in the conference all year long,” Valley head coach Nolan Crabtree said. “He hits, he pitches, and he’s shut out this team (Minford) two times. That says something. He pounds the zone and has control of four different pitches. There’s not a lot of kids around who can do that. And that also fuels the defense, and we made some good plays out there today.”

Valley scored the only run in the bottom of the fourth when Gavin Hannah reached on a base hit.

Parker Robinson moved Hannah over to second when he beat out an infield bunt.

Then Gabe McNeil smacked a single that scored Hannah for the 1-0 lead.

“It’s just good luck,” McNeil said. “Hannah had a tough at bat and got on and Parker got the bunt down and got on too. You don’t do that if our guys strike out. We got lucky there and it was just a good ole' lucky hit.”

The only runner to reach second base for the Falcons was Ty Borland, who went 1-for-3 and singled in the top of the fourth and moved to second on a passed ball.

“We had nothing going on all day,” Minford head coach Eli Daniels said. “If we had a good hit, we couldn’t follow it up with another one. We couldn’t get runners in scoring position. I give credit to (Barnett) and he threw the ball well and put it where he wanted it all night. It showed because we either popped up or grounded out or struck out.”

After the third inning, Valley struggled to grind out hits. The Indians threatened to score in the bottom of the sixth when pinch runner CJ Maynard, came in to courtesy run for Barnett, who was hit by a pitch. Maynard got to second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a passed ball but was not able to score.