There's no place like home for Van Wert, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Friday. They had just enough and edged out the Crestview Knights 2-1 on Wednesday. That's more bragging rights for the Cougars, who also won the pair's last head-to-head.
Easton Putman made a splash no matter where he played. On the mound, he pitched 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has become a key player for Van Wert: the team is 3-1 when he allows at most two hits, but 5-8 otherwise. Putman was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with one stolen base and one run.

Conner Harris
| 05/06/26 vs Crestview | 2 |
| 04/10/26 vs Kenton | 5 |
In other pitching news, Van Wert got a great performance from Conner Harris as he didn't allow a single earned run over 4.1 innings pitched. What's more, Harris posted two strikeouts, the most he's had since back in April.
Putman wasn't the only one making solid contact as two players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Trevor Halker, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with one RBI.
Van Wert has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games. That's provided a nice bump to their 8-9 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Crestview, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-9.
Van Wert and Crestview could both be facing uphill battles in their next games considering their disadvantage in the MaxPreps Ohio Rankings. The Cougars (ranked 331st) will meet Wapakoneta (ranked 163rd) at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Meanwhile, Crestview will take on Heritage at 5:30 p.m. on Friday with a big rank disadvantage (517 vs. 35).
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps