Baseball: Gonzalez Reaches Milestone, Vikings Stay Unbeaten with Shutout Win Over Hamburg

Written by Braydin Adams 

Adams is a senior at Northern Lebanon High School.

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Gonzalez Reaches Milestone, Vikings Stay Unbeaten with Shutout Win Over Hamburg

On Thursday, Northern Lebanon hosted Hamburg with an opportunity to improve to 6-0 on the season. With cold, drizzly conditions hanging over the field throughout the afternoon, the Vikings leaned on senior right-hander Adrian Gonzalezand just enough timely offense to grind out a 4-0 win.

Gonzalez wasted little time setting the tone. The senior struck out the first 2 batters he faced, with the 2nd punchout marking the 200th strikeout of his career. Hamburg answered with a double to put a runner in scoring position, but Gonzalez slammed the door with another strikeout to end the top of the 1st and send the Vikings to the plate with momentum.

Northern Lebanon quickly turned that momentum into runs in the bottom half. Andrew Via reached to open the inning on an errant throw, then stole 2nd. Owen Fahringer followed with an RBI double to make it 1-0. After Connor Stoltzmoved Fahringer to 3rd, Blake Burdick worked a walk to put runners on the corners. Gonzalez then grounded out to bring home another run and push the Vikings in front 2-0.

The Vikings had another chance in the 2nd when Christian Anspach drew a walk and stole 2nd, but Hamburg kept the deficit at 2-0. Gonzalez, meanwhile, kept piling up strikeouts. He punched out 3 more in the top of the 3rd and continued to keep the Hawks from finding any rhythm.

Northern Lebanon added on in the bottom of the 3rd. Fahringer drew a walk to get things going, and later came home on a sacrifice fly from Burdick to extend the lead to 3-0. Gonzalez followed with a single to keep the inning alive, but Hamburg escaped without further damage.

The Vikings threatened again in the 4th after Ryan Clemmer legged out an infield hit to start the inning, but could not bring him around. In the 5th, however, Northern Lebanon found one more insurance run. Fahringer again worked a walk, stole 2nd, and then scored when Gonzalez lined an RBI single to center field to make it 4-0.

That was more than enough for Gonzalez, who kept dealing from there. He worked around a walk in the 6th, then hit the leadoff batter in the 7th before finishing the game strong. By the end of the afternoon, Gonzalez had fired a complete-game shutout, allowing just 2 hits while striking out 9. He is now 2-0 with both wins coming via complete-game shutouts. He also has a 0.33 ERA in 21.1 innings pitched.

Fahringer was a key spark offensively, scoring 3 runs, drawing 2 walks, doubling, and stealing 2 bases. Gonzalez finished with 2 RBI, while Via added a hit and a run scored. Burdick also drove in a run as Northern Lebanon made the most of its limited chances.

That bigger-picture mindset was still front and center afterward. Even with the Vikings unbeaten, coach Travis Thome is clearly still looking for ways for his team to improve, especially with Northern Lebanon currently batting .213 as a group.

“We need to start hitting more,” Thome said.

Gonzalez’s focus was already on the quick turnaround ahead. “It was a good win. Back at it tomorrow!” Gonzalez said.

Fahringer pointed to the effort behind the pitcher as a major part of the result. “The defense played amazing, back at it tomorrow,” Fahringer said.

Northern Lebanon is now 6-0 and will travel to Middletown on Friday for an 11 a.m. showdown.

Northern Lebanon 4, Hamburg 0

Northern Lebanon Leaders

Owen Fahringer: 3-1, 3 R, RBI, 2 BB, 2B, 2 SB
Adrian Gonzalez: 2-3, 2 RBI, 2 3B
Blake Burdick: RBI, BB, SF
Andrew Via: 1-3, R
Ryan Clemmer: BB
Christian Anspach: SB

Northern Lebanon Pitching
Adrian Gonzalez: 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K

Hamburg Leaders

Isaak Stewart: 1-3, 2B
Jaden Ryan: 1-2, 2B, HBP
Bryce Schmeck: BB

Hamburg Pitching
Danny Barata: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 K
Carter Riegel: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

Full Box Score

Last Game: Vikings Open Section Play with Road Win Over Lancaster Mennonite