Batavia shutout Amelia in a contest between the respective division leaders of the Southern Buckeye Conference.

Batavia, the undefeated first place squad of the National Division shutout Amelia, the leading team of the American Division 3-0 in a one-dayweathered delayed showdown played at Batavia High’s Holman Stadium.

Originally scheduled to be played at Amelia High’s Brad Braughton Memorial Stadium, it was delayed a day because of rainy weather.

The host Bulldogs’ scored the first of their goals midway through the first half on a shot by junior midfielder Neil Wilson.

The host squad looked impressive on the field with their aggressive play and good ball handling and team work.

The tempo and team work of the Barons increased from the beginning of the second half, but the Green and White scored two goals in fairly quick succession in the middle of the half.

Wilson recorded both for the Batavians, the first with 21 minutes and 16 seconds remaining in the game and the second with 19:58 remaining. This point came after rebounding off the hands of an Amelia defender from the side near the goal. All of Wilson’s came about upon assists by senior midfielder Tim Knauer.

Within the next 10 minutes, both teams had begun to replace their starters freely and frequently.

“It was a really good game. Pretty competitive. We played pretty well. We used our chances to score and put it away,” said Batavia head coach Nick Noel. “Amelia is a good team. They’re pretty well organized. It was a close game. It was a hard situation for them. The game was to be played the day before and at their place. Their backs were against the wall.”

He pointed out his back defense was particularly outstanding with the play of cornerbacks Brandon Bottorff, a junior, and Blake Burke, a sophomore, right back Lucas Grant, a sophomore, and left back Zac Sickles, a sophomore.

We played hard, but Batavia played better,” said Amelia head coach Eric Burger. “I was surprised. They were better than I thought. They capitalized on their chances (to score) and we missed on ours. That’s been our story all year. We have not been able to finish our opportunities.

“Batavia has a another solid program. They have a good, solid tradition. They work hard and are one of the top Division Two programs in Greater Cincinnati. They are the only team to outshoot us all year.”

“We’re working to get there. We could be a bit better. . . Everybody seems to play hard against us, since we are the defending champions of our division of the conference. We were 9-0-1 last year, but we don’t have a lot of returning experience. We’re just not finishing (the shots on goal) and I don’t know why.”

He lauded the performances of senior striker and midfielder Anthony Clark, junior striker and midfielder Cody Sprague, junior defender Jimmy Lindsey, junior midfielder Josh Drennan, and junior defender Taylor Cunningham for “playing very consistent all year.”

The Blue and White has just three seniors on the varsity squad and a very large number of 16 juniors.

“Our season’s gone really well so far. They have been responding real well to our challenges,” said Noel.

The leading players on offense for Batavia have been Knauer with 13 goals and 10 assists, Wilson with 10 goals and six assists, center midfielder Ian Malott, a senior, with 10 goals and four assists and right midfielder Kyle Schmitgen, a sophomore, has played good all-around offense.

The defense has been tough behind the play of Burke and Bottorff and senior goalkeeper Brian Hawk who has recorded five shutouts.

“I’ve been preaching for them to train on improving themselves and to learn and to take everything seriously. I’d like to go undefeated,” Noel said.