Bellbrook coach Jon Venters stood in the cold Thursday night trying to warm up after his players dumped a water jug over his head along the third-base line.
The celebration was fitting for a Bellbrook team that completed one of the biggest turnarounds in the Southwestern Buckeye League this spring.
After finishing fourth in the SWBL Southwestern Division last season, the Golden Eagles clinched the outright division championship with a 7-3 victory over Monroe.
The Golden Eagles have won 14 straight games and improved to 18-2 overall and 9-0 in league play. Bellbrook, which won back-to-back league titles in 2022 and 2023, completed a dramatic turnaround after Monroe, Ross and Edgewood shared the division crown a season ago.
“We worked hard all winter,” Venters said. “We had a lot of guys that really worked and competed. We were coming off a couple not-up-to-par years for us. We had a lot of hungry guys competing for a lot of positions.
“That competition that started in the offseason just rolled into the season. Guys continue to compete every day. Baseball is hard. It’s easy to take a day off, so sticking with it every day and competing every day has been huge for us.”
Monroe (13-4, 5-2 SWBL Southwestern) jumped in front early when Jayden Hounchell delivered a two-run single in the first inning.
Bellbrook answered in the second when Levi Yoder ripped a game-tying two-run double.
The Hornets regained a 3-2 advantage in the bottom half of the inning on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Joe Tarin, but Bellbrook starter Drew Schindler settled in from there.
Schindler allowed three runs — one earned — over 6 1/3 innings.
“The mound was a little rough, I’m not going to lie,” Schindler said. “But I just dug in a little bit. Obviously, the adrenaline later in the game, especially after that four-spot, definitely helped me add a little extra miles an hour.”
Bellbrook finally broke through in the sixth.
Landon Buttery delivered a two-run single, a run scored on a fielder’s choice and Yoder added a sacrifice bunt to push the lead to 6-3.
Venters said he never doubted his team would respond.
“The resilience that we showed at the beginning of the year, I knew we were going to come back,” Venters said. “I just had this gut feeling that we were going to make it happen. We just had to wait for our inning, and sure enough the sixth came and we executed with some good at-bats.”
Bellbrook added another run in the seventh when junior standout Landon Vennettilli launched a solo home run to left field.
“I was just sitting on a pitch I liked,” Vennettilli said. “I got one and hit it hard.”
Vennettilli said Bellbrook’s consistency has fueled the program’s rise this spring.
“We’re just trying to stay locked in all season and take no games off,” Vennettilli said. “We just try to have a lot of resilience and keep fighting back.”
Venters called Vennettilli one of the catalysts behind Bellbrook’s breakout season.
“He’s having an absolute monster year,” Venters said. “I think he’s player of the year. I’ll make that argument up and down. He’s done it on both sides of the ball for us.”
Monroe coach Ed Beck said missed opportunities ultimately proved costly for the Hornets, who stranded runners in multiple innings after taking the early lead.
“If you look at the game before that sixth inning, we had base runners and guys on third every inning and we couldn’t score them,” Beck said. “That’s where we lost the baseball game.
“If we execute and score one or two or three of those, we put more pressure on them. But they’re scrappy. Their kids play hard and they made plays defensively when they had to.”
Beck also praised Bellbrook’s turnaround after last season.
“Nine-and-0 in the league is pretty darn good,” Beck said. “To make that kind of turnaround in one year is impressive. Hats off to them.”
Despite clinching the outright league championship, Bellbrook said its goals extend beyond the SWBL crown.
“This is only step one,” Vennettilli said. “We’re trying to go as far as possible.”
“We got the title,” Schindler added. “Now we’re looking for tournament play.”