Dylan Hefflinger
PBR Senior Writer and Northwest scout

BELLEFONTAINE - In back-to-back days Central Buckeye Conference rivals Tippecanoe and Bellefontaine battled, with Tippecanoe showing its dominance. Tippecanoe and Bellefontaine have been one-two, respectively, in the CBC for the past three seasons and it looks like it may end up that way again after No. 3 Division II Tippecanoe swept No. 6 Division II Bellefontaine 7-0 on Monday and 8-0 Tuesday.

On Monday, Top Prospect Games participant Ben Hughes tossed a no-hitter in front of numerous college coaches. On Tuesday, University of Toledo recruit Steven Calhoun tried to match Hughes' performance and the lefty was just as dominant.

The 6-foot-7 lanky lefty went six-plus innings allowing just three hits and two walks (both in the seventh inning) while striking out seven. The future Rocket sat in the 81-83 mph range, topping out at 84 a few times. Calhoun also featured a tight breaking slider and a change with nice run that he threw in all counts. The lefty Calhoun did not allow a runner to reach second base until the seventh inning with back-to-back walks. Junior Cameron Johnson came in after the back-to-back walks forcing a groundout before punching out the final two batters of the game.

Tippecanoe played close to flawless baseball on Tuesday showcasing solid pitching, speed, small ball as well as blasting the long ball.

The Red Devils got it started in the first as Johnson led the game off with a single up the middle, then swiping second on the first pitch to sophomore two-hole hitter Zack Blair. A walk to Blair put two on with Hughes coming to the plate. The talented LF laid down a sacrifice bunt to put two in scoring position. University of Dayton recruit Carter Langdon put the first run on the board with a sacrifice fly to right and senior Austin Hadden followed with a single up the middle plating the second run in the first.

With Tippecanoe up 2-0 in the second, the Red Devils expanded their lead to 5-0 thanks to the top of the lineup. After a groundout, Johnson blooped a single over second base. Blair then hit a sinking line drive to right field that the Chieftains' RF made a diving attempt for but came up short resulting in an RBI triple. Hughes followed with an RBI infield single to plate Blair. Langdon was hit by a pitch and later scored on an error to put the Red Devils up 5-0.

Hughes and Calhoun eventually put the game out of reach in the sixth inning. After Johnson reached on a single, Hughes blasted an RBI double to the left-field wall. Langdon then connected on a two-run home run to deep left field putting the Red Devils on top 8-0.

Bellefontaine was unable to muster any offense for two days straight, but talented junior shortstop Jarrod Houchin made a name for himself. Despite not getting a hit, the shortstop ripped the ball all three times at the plate. Houchin also looked like a human vacuum at short, making all the routine plays as well as making a couple web gems. More about Houchin will be in the scouting blog.

To view scouting notes from this game, please visit the Ohio High School Scouting Blog. The blog gets updated throughout the week.

To discuss this game, please visit our partner JJHuddle.

Linescore

Tippecanoe   230  003  0 - 8 9 1

Bellefontaine 000  000  0 - 0 3 2

Records: Tippecanoe 14-2, Bellefontaine 9-3.

Winning pitcher: Steven Calhoun (6 innings, 0 runs, 3 hits, 7 strikeouts, 2 walks). Other: Cameron Johnson.

Losing pitcher: Josh Clifton (1 1/3 innings, 5 runs, 5 hits, 0 strikeouts, 1 walk). Other: Tyler Shamblin, Matt Gump.

Leading hitters: (Tippecanoe,  9 hits) – Cameron Johnson 3 singles; Ben Hughes single, double; Carter Langdon home run, 3 RBIs; Austin Hadden 2 singles. (Bellefontaine, 3 hits).