The four 33rd District baseball teams ventured to the home of the 9th Region Tournament at Thomas More Stadium in Florence Tuesday for the annual district seed battles.
One game saw a tight battle and the other saw a lopsided score. When the dust settled, the favored Conner Cougars (9-1 overall) and Ryle Raiders (8-3) came away with wins over the Cooper Jaguars (2-6) and Boone County Rebels (3-6-1) respectively.
Conner 4, Cooper 2
The starting pitchers posted zeros for the most part until the bottom of the fifth inning in the first district seed game for both teams. Cooper, coming in off a huge 9-5 win at 9-3 George Rogers Clark on Monday, led 1-0 at that point when junior catcher Cohen Stone walked then junior pinch runner Kolston Conrad stole second, took third on a passed ball and scored when junior left fielder Keaton Conrad grounded out to second.
Cooper may have had one more hit batting .240 (6 for 25) overall compared to .227 (5 for 22) for Conner. But the Cougars had two in each of the fifth and sixth innings scoring their runs.
“That’s a 33rd District-type seed game and (Monday) we played Dixie in a similar type game. It was 3-3. In the late innings, we got those big hits,” said Brad Arlinghaus, Conner head coach. “I know one run was not going to beat us. It was just a matter of time for us to get somebody on and get something to happen. You saw what the top of our lineup was able to do.”
One player in Cooper junior shortstop Mark Nowak had a multi-hit game. Nowak had three singles in three at-bats scoring in the top of the sixth on a wild pitch.
“I think we’ve had a couple teams on the ropes lately,” said Cooper head coach Scott Buckler. “Then we make a key mistake. Against a team like this, one key mistake is all they made. Once things start clicking, we’ll probably be competitive with any of these teams in the 33rd District.”
Conner senior Brody Mangold (3-0) pitched six innings to pick up the win striking out 11 and walking three. Senior Cody Henson pitched the seventh striking out one to close it out. The Cougars made the game’s lone error in the top of the seventh. But Henson pitched around it.
Mangold escaped three tough situations in the first three innings. Cooper senior right fielder Trevor Ollier led off the game with a single then stole second before moving to third on a Nowak single. Nowak moved to second when senior third baseman James Crowe grounded out to third. But Mangold got Stone to pop out to end the threat.
Keaton Conrad then led off the second inning with a triple in the gap. But Mangold struck out the next three Jaguars.
The third inning saw the Cougars record a defensive gem. With one out, Cooper junior center fielder Connor Robinson doubled then tried to score on a Nowak single. But Conner senior center fielder Ayden Lohr fired the ball to senior catcher Luke Hubbard to nail Robinson for the second out.
“They really put the bat on the ball, which was tough to adapt,” Mangold said. “But our defense came out firing out of the gate. Out catcher made good calls with the triple. It’s just little things like that add together to make a great inning.”
Cooper junior pitcher Eric Eaton (0-2) pitched five innings striking out nine and walking four. Junior Logan Farmer pitched the sixth for the Jaguars striking out one.
“Eric’s a competitor,” Buckler said. “He’s a talented young man. He’s continuing to build on that talent with skill. He continues to do a great job for us.”
Eaton struck out the first two Cougars of the fifth inning. Cody Henson singled then took second when Lohr worked a walk. That’s when junior shortstop Rex Richter came through in the clutch hitting to right that hung up to where it looked as though Ollier would make the catch to end the inning. But it found the ground allowing Henson to score to tie the game and move Lohr to second.
“It goes down as a line drive in the book. But a hit is a hit,” Arlinghaus said. “Regardless, that got a guy in and that got things flowing. We were a little sluggish all day in the dugout. Spring break is a tough time to play because we’re out of our routine.”
After Lohr and Richter pulled off a double steal, Conner senior right fielder Brayden Stidham came up with another clutch hit tripling to right center scoring Lohr and Richter to put the Cougars up 3-1. That is Stidham’s first career varsity triple.
“It felt great. All game I thought I battled at the plate, hit some balls hard, didn’t get rewarded,” Stidham said. “I stayed in the game, got my chance and ripped a ball. I really can’t ask for much more out of that. It was nice. I’m not the fastest so it was nice to get the wave to third.”
The Cougars added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Senior third baseman Cory Henson singled, stole second, took third on a balk then scored when Hubbard singled.
The teams meet back at Cooper at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
Ryle 13, Boone County 3 (5 innings):
The Raiders run-ruled the Rebels for the second straight day to move to 2-0 in district seed play. Ryle split all three district seed series last year.
Ryle scored three runs in the bottom of the first then added one in the second to go up 4-1 for the only runs needed to win the game. But after the Rebels scored twice to trim it to 4-3 in the top of the third, Ryle pulled away with five in the bottom of the inning, three in the fourth before senior third baseman Keegan Flaherty scored on a wild pitch to end it in the bottom of the fifth.
“Obviously anytime we get a chance to take care of a team in five, we need to because we know that saves pitching and that gets us ready for postseason play,” said Joe Aylor, Ryle head coach. “Boone’s a scrappy team. We know that we play any of the teams in our district, it’s going to be a tough game. I know they’re young. But they’re not a team you can overlook at any point. I think they showed that and it showed that we have lot of things that we need to work on going forward.”
The Raiders batted an astounding .545 (12 for 22) overall with four players recording multi-hit games and took advantage of eight walks. Senior right fielder Cody Hemmert led the way going 3 for 3 with a double, three runs batted in and three runs scored. Senior center fielder Landon Sawyer went 2 for 4 with a double, triple, two RBI and two runs scored. Senior second baseman Roman Furuta went 2 for 3 with a triple, three RBI and one run scored.
Junior left fielder Tate Cordrey set the tone in the leadoff spot going 2 for 3 with an RBI and two runs scored. Senior designated player TJ Schira added a double and drove in four.
“I just try to work the pitcher,” Cordrey said. “If Coach Aylor gives me the sign, I’ll go try to take that extra base. Our coaches are good at communicating. They always preach, ‘Spring hard back.”
Junior Grant Ashcraft (1-0) pitched the first three innings to pick up the win striking out one, walking three and allowing six hits and three earned runs. Junior Sam Eppley pitched the last two innings striking out three and allowing just one hit.
The teams had to adjust to the bigger field. But Ryle made the game’s lone error.
“I kind of just play it like any other field,” Hemmert said. “Since it’s turf, I may take a couple steps back, let the ball travel. But tracking the baseball is the same as any other field. It’s not too much of a difference. We just did our jobs. Cutting off the ball is what we’re supposed to do.”
Boone County batted .333 (7 for 21) in the loss. Junior right fielder Jack Moore led the way going 2 for 2. Junior catcher Chris Henson scored twice.
Junior Maddox Jones pitched the first three innings taking the loss striking out one. Sophomore Elijah Burks pitched the fourth and freshman Dakota Daniels pitched the fifth.
Ryle plays host to Walton-Verona (7-2) on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. Boone County plays host to Calvary Christian (4-9) on Saturday at 10 a.m.
Baseball
Simon Kenton 3, Walton-Verona 2
The Pioneers (5-3) won the crucial road 32nd District seed game against the Bearcats (7-2) scoring their three runs in top of the first and holding on for the win.
The Pioneers batted .200 (5 for 25) in the game. Junior pitcher Logan Cones led the way going 2 for 3 with a double and RBI. Junior left fielder Bailey Rump also went 2 for 3 with two doubles. Cones (2-2) pitched a complete game striking out seven and allowing two earned runs.
Walton-Verona batted .222 (6 for 27) overall. Senior shortstop/pitcher Evan Kerns, junior third baseman/shortstop Bryce Corpus, senior designated hitter/third baseman Jimmy Shields and senior second baseman Ed Drohan had doubles for the Bearcats.
Corpus (2-1) pitched into the sixth inning for Walton-Verona striking out six and walking two. Kerns relieved him striking out one and walking two.
Simon Kenton travels to Campbell County (6-2) on Wednesday for a 5:30 p.m. game. Walton-Verona travels to Ryle on Thursday for a 5:30 p.m. game.
Other Baseball Scores
Highlands 9, Harlan County 3
Lincoln-Way West (Illinois) 3, Highlands 1
Campbell County 1, Calvary Christian 0 (forfeit)
Ludlow 6, Dayton 4
Dixie Heights 11, Villa Madonna 0 (5 innings)
Pendleton County 6, Newport Central Catholic 2
Softball Scores
Highlands 10, Letcher County Central 2
Moore Catholic (New York) 3, Highlands 1
Pendleton County 10, Bishop Brossart 3
Conner 11, Owen County 5
Holy Cross 23, Ludlow 6 (4 innings)
Newport Central Catholic 8, Villa Madonna 7
Campbell County 13, Reading (Ohio) 2 (5 innings)
Harrison (Ohio) 11, Dixie Heights 8