For the fourth time since 2016, Beechwood and Highlands are the last two teams standing in the Ninth Region baseball tournament.
The two picked up victories on Wednesday night at Thomas More Stadium in Florence, setting the stage for Thursday’s championship at 8 p.m.
Here’s how the two advanced:
HIGHLANDS 9, DIXIE HEIGHTS O
Highlands is making this look pretty easy.
Hitting, pitching, fielding. The three keys to baseball have all been mastered by the Bluebirds through their first two Ninth Region tournament games.
On Wednesday, it was a 9-0 victory over Dixie Heights in the semifinals at Thomas More Stadium in Florence.
They collected nine hits, Garrett Wiggins threw a two-hitter and the defense turned a clean game in the field.
“Total team effort,” Bluebirds coach Brian Benzinger said. “Guys on the bench are in it, supporting their team. We’re playing great defense and pitching well. The three aspects of the game have really come together last couple days.”
The offense jumped on Colonels’ starter Austin Krohmer early as the first four Highlands batters reached base and led 2-0 after a half inning.
That was all Wiggins needed with his nasty off-speed stuff that resulted in seven strikeouts, six of them looking.
“Slider and curveball, definitely my go-to,” Wiggins said. “Being able to use all four pitches and being comfortable with the slider even in 3-2 counts and being able to locate it in the zone takes it to another level.”
The off-speed stuff for Wiggins has been a process. As a 5-foot-3 sophomore, Wiggins was searching for more velocity. Two years later and standing at 6-foot-1 now, he knows what his bread and butter is.
“Going into high school, I was always undersized,” Wiggins said. “I felt like velocity is going to be such a big factor on if I’m gonna be playing or not. It was really until this year, this past summer and this spring, I was really able to just take a deep breath and realize it doesn’t matter what that radar gun says. Just getting guys out doesn’t matter if you’re throwing 78 or 93.”
Slider, curveball, change-up…it was all working for Wiggins, holding Dixie to two hits in the contest and allowing just one Dixie runner to reach third base.
Back to the offense. After Monday’s victory over CovCath, Benzinger said it comes from anybody on any given night. On Wednesday it was Brooks Hendrix setting the table. Hendrix went 4-for-5 with two doubles and four runs scored.
“We’ve just got a really good lineup,” Hendrix said. “Anyone on any given day can produce hits. That makes a special team where it could be anyone.”
Kai Anderson added two hits and four runs driven in. The Bluebirds 2-5 hitters did most of the damage on the day with eight hits, six RBI and five runs scored. Iain Carner added a hit and RBI, Adam Forton also with a hit and RBI with a run scored and two walks drawn.
“We’re just confident in our abilities and know we can hit anyone so that’s how we approach it,” Hendrix said.
They’ll make their ninth region championship appearance since 2012 on Thursday. A first for Benzinger though, who came over from Ohio after coaching at New Richmond the last 20 years.
“This is really cool, we didn’t have this kind of thing in Ohio,” Benzinger said. “Monday felt like the first day of the NCAA tournament with all the teams here and people at the same location. I’ve had some really good teams over there, made the region finals three times. Not quite sure we’ve had a team quite this good the way we’re playing right now.”
Dixie’s season comes to a close at 21-18. They just couldn’t carry the momentum from the stunning upset of Ryle on Monday.
Krohmer took the loss on the mound, allowing four hits and five runs with five walks and three strikeouts. Owen Stulz and Sean Mitchell had the lone hits. They’ll graduate six seniors who made three straight region semifinal appearances.
BEECHWOOD 7, CONNER 3
After what they thought was strike three in a 3-2 game in the fifth inning, Beechwood suddenly found themselves tied at three when Conner’s Brady Bushman stole home.
“I thought it was a strike right down the middle,” Tigers starter Caleb Arrasmith said.
The Tigers didn’t panic and quickly responded with three runs in the top of the sixth, pulling away from pesky Conner for a 7-3 victory in Wednesday’s second semifinal.
“Everybody was kind of down a little bit after that play at home and we just told the guys you have to answer back,” Tigers coach Kevin Gray said. “Let’s put a crooked number up there and the guys responded.”
Caleb Arrasmith battled for six innings despite some control issues, the Tigers picked up timely hits and are now headed to their fifth region championship game in the last six seasons.
Arrasmith finished a gritty six innings with 109 pitches, his highest total of the season, allowing three hits, three earned runs, walking six and striking out eight.
“Just unsettled, just in my head a bit,” Arrasmith said. “Those runs off walks, it’s frustrating, but that’s baseball. You just got to let it go, worry about the next at-bat, the next pitch and just forget about it.”
Conner threw the first punch, putting up two runs in the bottom of the second thanks to three walks and two Tiger errors. Things were not off to a good start for Beechwood, five of their first seven batters sent to the plate striking out.
But a walk by Carson Welch finally got the Tigers going. Brady Meier followed with a single and Tyler Fryman knocked a two-run double to tie the game up in the top of the third.
“Timely hitting,” Fryman said. “Austin Stephenson was big tonight with that. Hudson (Edwards) was big with that. Everybody was big with that. Everybody had a had a job tonight, and they all did it.”
An error allowed Beechwood to add another in the third for a 3-2 edge.
Arrasmith and Bushman settled in from there, the score remaining that way until the bottom of the fifth. Conner had a golden opportunity in the fourth when Max Brunkel led off with a double, but was left at third with no outs when Arrasmith picked up two strikeouts and a grounder between first and second hit baserunner Drake Brittingham for the third out of the frame.
The leadoff runner reached again in the fifth for the Cougars, this time Bushman on a walk. He was sacrificed over to second, reached third on a flyout and what looked like another opportunity to tie the game up missed, Bushman took off toward home on a 1-2 count. When the pitch entered Carson Welch’s mit, he froze, expecting a strike three call. Instead it was a ball and Bushman slid in head first safely.
Then came the Tigers response once again. Keagan Hutton started off the sixth with a walk and was sacrificed over to second. A strikeout followed before Hutton advanced to third on a wild pitch. Hudson Edwards was able to leg out an infield single for the Tigers to reclaim the lead at 4-3.
Going to his bench, Kevin Gray elected to bring in pinch-hitter Austin Stephenson with a runner on first and second. Stephenson delivered with a two-run double, dealing the knockout blow.
“Huge pinch-hit for us,” Gray said. “He’s been hitting it good in practice and told him he’s going to get an opportunity. You just never know. He works his butt off and is a great kid waiting for his opportunity and took advantage of it today.”
The Tigers added some insurance in the seventh when Arrasmith slid under a tag on a Keagan Hutton fielder’s choice. Branton Stiles coming on in the final frame to close the door.
Beechwood got two hits apiece from Fryman and Arrasmith, Fryman and Stephenson the leaders with two RBI.
They know who is getting the ball in Thursday’s championship, their ace Chase Flaherty as he looks to add another state tournament appearance to his resume counting football and baseball.
“Wouldn’t have anybody else in that spot,” Gray said. “Chase has been our dog for the last three years. What a football career, school-wise he’s brilliant. Baseball I couldn’t tell you the awards he’s won. He’d give them all up for a win tomorrow. That’s just the kind of kid he is.”
Despite being held to four hits, Conner was able to constantly put runners on thanks to seven walks. Bushman finished his day on the mound with 5.2 innings pitched, five hits, six runs, two walks and nine strikeouts.
They close out their season at 19-16, which included four straight region semifinal appearances and a win short of their first region championship game since 2017. They’ll graduate eight seniors.
BLUEBIRDS 9, COLONELS 0
HIGHLANDS — 203-102-1 — 9-9-0
DIXIE HEIGHTS — 000-000-0 — 0-2-0
2B –(H) Hendrix 2
RBI — (H) Anderson 4, Forton, Carner, Wiggins
R — (H) Hendrix 4, Schwalbach 2, Forton, Robinson, Wiswell
WP — Wiggins. LP — Krohmer.
Records: Highlands 26-7, Dixie Heights 21-18
TIGERS 6, COUGARS 3
BEECHWOOD — 003-003-1 — 7-7-3
CONNER — 020-010-0 — 3-4-1
2B — (B) Fryman, Stephenson, Arrasmith (C) Brunkel, Bushman
RBI — (B) Fryman 2, Stephenson 2, Flaherty, Edwards, Hutton (C) Hall
R — (B) Knasel 2, Fryman, Edwards, Meier, King, Arrasmith (C) Bushman, Webster, Abousaleh
WP — Arrasmith. LP — Bushman.
Records: Beechwood 25-10, Conner 19-16