Perhaps Beechwood should petition to have all their games played at Thomas More Stadium in Florence.
For the third time this season at the home of the Y’alls and Thomas More University’s baseball team, the Tigers rallied from down multiple runs in the final inning, this last one on one of the biggest stages of them all in the 9th Region tournament semifinals.
Trailing 2-0 in their final at-bat, Beechwood stunned Dixie Heights for four runs in the seventh and came away with a 4-2 victory over the Colonels, advancing to their fourth straight region championship game.
“This team I told them after the game, I’ve been doing this a long time, I’ve never seen a team with as much heart and determination as these guys. They just never feel like they’re out of a game. It’s pretty cool to be a part of,” Tigers coach Kevin Gray said.
The big hit came from Landon Johnson, his two-run double with the Tigers down to their final strike and giving them a 3-2 lead. Johnson’s senior year has had its turbulence, replaced in the outfield as eighth grader Tyler Fryman surged in to join Nazario Pangallo and Cameron Boyd.
Johnson never flinched, still a valuable arm for the Tigers with a 5-0 record and 2.40 ERA in 23.1 innings pitched. He also batted DH in the Tigers lineup, but those opportunities were limited down the stretch. His number was called on Monday night in the biggest situation of the game, Tiger runners on the corners with two outs and Beechwood trailing 2-1.
“I’ve been in and out of the lineup. I’ve been struggling this year, but recently I picked it back up. Tonight coach gave me the chance and told me to go prove myself again,” Johnson said. “Coach told me the inning before to get my bat and get loose. Glad he trusted me in this situation and let me do my job.”
Brach Rice, who had been stellar for six innings for the Colonels, got Johnson into a 1-2 count. Johnson eventually worked the count to 3-2, fouling a couple of pitches off. He then drove a pitch into left center, one-hopping off the wall and brining home Fryman from third, pinch-runner Bobby Meier from first representing the go-ahead run.
“I was taking a lot of time out of the box, taking deep breaths, talking to myself saying not too early, this isn’t too much for you, just wait back. He threw me a curveball and got me on it, got to 3-2 and I thought he was going to throw me a fastball and sure enough it was, right in my wheelhouse to the left center gap,” Johnson said.
Pangallo followed with an insurance run, a single to right scoring Johnson to make it 4-2. Rice then exited to a standing ovation, holding a Beechwood team scoreless for six innings that was averaging 9.2 runs per game coming in.
“You gotta give Brach Rice a ton of credit. He threw his butt off man. He threw great, he had us so off-balance. He got us out front. We were hitting fly balls and routine ground balls. I feel bad because he threw good enough to win the game,” Gray said.
Torrin O’Shea, who came on for Sam Stacy in the bottom of the sixth, worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh to get the Tigers to Wednesday’s championship as they look for a 4-peat. They’ll face Highlands, the team they knocked off in 2019 to deny the Bluebirds a fifth straight region title at the time.
“It’s kind of cool it’s us and them again. If you beat them, you know you’re going to have to beat them and I’m sure Jeremy (Baioni) will say the same thing. When you play them you know it’s always going to be a battle,” Gray said.
Much like the first game between Highlands and Conner in a Bluebirds 1-0 victory, a pitcher’s duel ensued for the first five innings.
Rice allowed two hits through six, allowing just one Beechwood runner to reach second base. Sam Stacy was very workman-like, scattering seven hits through five on 55 pitches.
The Colonels finally drew first blood in the bottom of the sixth, a walk and back-to-back singles from Rice and Brayden Runion, Runion’s single scoring pinch-runner Owen Stultz. Cole Pullum followed with an RBI single scoring Rice, but Runion was thrown out at home by Fryman in center. The damage was done as the Colonels needed three outs with a 2-0 lead.
Trailing St. Henry by multiple runs in the 9th Region All “A” championship and Oak Hills (Ohio) in a similar scenario on this very same field this season, Beechwood faced the challenge once again.
“This is our third or fourth game we’ve come back in the seventh inning down multiple runs,” Gray said. “We’ve done it here twice. Third time here that we’ve done that.”
The top of the seventh started with a Ben Meier ground rule double. Fryman followed with a single to left, putting runners on the corners with no outs. Shawn Sowder hit a sac fly to left, scoring Meier to make it 2-1.
Mason Preston drew a walk to put the tying run at second, Carson Welch hitting into a fielder’s choice to put runners at the corners and Beechwood down to their final out.
“I had a feeling all day long LJ was gonna do something. I kept telling him be ready to hit, I’m gonna put you in when there’s a situation. Maybe it was my dad telling me, but I just had a feeling all day that he was going to come through for some reason,” Gray said.
Johnson, a Georgetown commit made a memory that will last a lifetime.
“I’ll never forget this. This is probably the best moment in my high school career as of right now,” Johnson said.
The Tigers now get a day off as they aim for a four-peat.
Dixie Heights nearly stunned all of Northern Kentucky, entering the game with a 15-21 record and were sitting at 7-17 at one point of the season.
Rice finished with 6.2 innings pitched, the three-sport star with seven Division I football offers, allowing six hits and four earned runs with six strikeouts and three walks.
Ethan Bosley led the Colonels at the plate with three hits, Rice collecting two as they tallied 10 hits in the contest. Bosley is just one of four seniors on the team, Runion, Caleb Hinkle and Owen Lawrence the other two. Hinkle and Lawrence both recorded a hit on the day.
Pangallo and Meier had two hits apiece for the Tigers to lead the way. O’Shea got the win in relief, allowing a hit over the final 1.2 innings pitched with a strikeout. Stacy surrendered nine hits and two earned runs, striking out one and walking one.
Wednesday’s championship is set for 7 p.m., back at Thomas More Stadium.
BEECHWOOD — 000-000-4 — 4-6-0
DIXIE HEIGHTS — 000-002-0 — 2-10-0
2B — (B) Meier, Johnson
WP — O’Shea. LP — Rice.
Records: Beechwood 26-8, Dixie Heights 15-22