Brody Mangold settled in pretty nicely on Sunday.
Especially when he got a 6-2 lead.
Once the Conner Cougars took the lead with six runs in the top of the fourth, Mangold dialed it up several notches to help the Cougars beat the 35th District champion Covington Catholic Colonels, 6-2 in the 9th Region Baseball Tournament Quarterfinals on Sunday at Thomas More Stadium.
The victory gets Conner (26-12) back in the region semifinals against Highlands on Monday at 8 p.m. for the second time in three years following a disappointing quarterfinal exit against Newport Central Catholic last year.
“When you get six runs in an inning, it’s a huge weight off your shoulders,” Mangold said. “Right when I got out there, I knew exactly what my job was. That was to pound the strike zone and get out of innings. I got very fortunate to have a good defense behind me to back me up. On top of that, I could locate my pitches. My catcher (senior Logan Tucker) made the right calls on pitches to get the strikes that I needed.”
Mangold (8-1) recorded all nine strikeouts after the third inning. Head coach Brad Arlinghaus said he took on a bulldog look from that point. Mangold only allowed two base runners after the third inning, holding the Colonel (23-10) offense to two hits in the game.
“We just kept reminding him we’ve been here before. We had Brody Mangold on the mound, who has been our number one since his sophomore year. He hasn’t pitched in a region tournament since his sophomore year so I had all the faith in the world he’d right the ship,” Arlinghaus said.
Mangold issued three walks and a hit batter, a walk and hit by pitch coming in the first inning where the Cougars ran into their only trouble of the night.
The Colonels scored two unearned runs in the top of the first. Mangold hit CovCath junior center fielder Charlie Dieruf. Dieruf then moved to second on a Mangold throwing error then third when sophomore shortstop Jackson Reardon reached on another Conner fielding error. Reardon then stole second.
Fitz then drew one of his two walks on the evening. But on that fourth ball, the ball bounced into the Conner dugout on the wild pitch allowing Dieruf and Reardon to score giving the Colonels a 2-0 lead.
Conner’s defense dug in and made the routine plays for the most part after that when they had to. Mangold struck out the side in the fourth and fifth innings. Senior left fielder Tyler Rennekamp drew a walk to open the top of the seventh. But Mangold struck out the next two Colonels and Dieruf flew out to senior left fielder Jackson Bucks to end the game.
“We really battled back after the rough first inning,” said Aaron Wichmann, Conner junior first baseman. “We put some sticks together and got the job done.”
Conner collected eight hits. The Cougars exploded for six runs in the top of the fourth, scoring five unearned runs off three CovCath errors.
Senior right fielder Braiden Stidham singled and stole second. Senior second baseman Cody Henson then singled him in to trim the Colonel lead to 2-1. Henson then reached second when senor designated hitter Jeffery Vest reached on a CovCath error and the two moved up one base when Tucker grounded out. The Cougars then tied the game 2-2 when senior left fielder Jackson Bucks reached on an infield single scoring Henson.
“Here’s my thing. You don’t have to hit the ball like crazy,” Bucks said. “If you put in the effort and you run down that line, any ball becomes a hit. I’ve seen plenty of people do it so as long as their is effort involved, that’s all that matters. Plays happen. Errors happen. If one little thing goes wrong, you jump into it and you get a hit out of it.”
Senior center fielder Ayden Lohr then gave the Cougars the lead for good at 4-2, tripling to the right center gap scoring Vest and Bucks. Lohr then scored on another CovCath error and junior shortstop Rex Richter scored on a wild pitch after reaching on an error to make the final score.
That took CovCath out out of its game, which includes a lot of small ball. Arlinghaus played at CovCath for head coach Bill Krumpelbeck many years ago.
“That’s one of the best programs in Northern Kentucky over the last 40 years so I know how they operate,” Arlinghaus said. “I know that small ball gets them going. Once you put a six spot up on them, it knocks the wind out of them.”
CovCath junior pitcher Eli Wagner (1-1) pitched into the fourth inning, striking out four and walking none. Senior Chris Young finished the game striking out two and allowing one hit.
The Colonels graduate four seniors in Young, Fitz, Max Lawrie and Rennekamp. The Colonels won two district championships in their time in high school.
“They did a good job leading the younger players,” Krumpelbeck said. “We’re used to having 12 or more. In every season I’ve ever coached, I’ve never had four. Kids make mistakes. We had a lot of pressure (Sunday) and obviously, we didn’t handle it.”
CovCath lost in the region quarterfinals for the second straight year. The Colonels lost in the region championship to Beechwood two years ago as their region title drought now reaches 18 years.