It only seemed fitting the winner in the battle of the two baseball teams that have won the last seven 9th Region Tournament championships walked off in an unusual way.
A catcher’s interference call.
With two out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh in a tie game, Beechwood Tigers junior first baseman Shawn Sowder stepped to the plate against Highlands Bluebirds junior reliever Xander Crawford. Sowder worked the count to 1-2, then appeared to ground out. It was not clear at first, but the home plate umpire called the Bluebirds for their second catcher’s interference of the game, allowing senior left fielder Nazario Pangallo to score the game-winning run and lift the Tigers to a come from behind 14-13 victory.
“We’re an aggressive team. We just always fight to the end,” Sowder said. “I don’t know if (the Highlands catcher) was reaching out for it too much. But I’ll take that walk-off, getting on base any chance I get.”
The Tigers (19-6) and Bluebirds (16-10) have now split the two games during the regular season. Highlands beat Beechwood, 10-2 in Fort Thomas on March 23. On Wednesday, Beechwood trailed 10-0 after three innings of play.
“This is like the third time we’ve been down big in a game and we’ve come back,” said Kevin Gray, Beechwood head coach. “The kids don’t quit. It’s a testament to how hard they work and everything they put into it.”
Beechwood tallied 13 hits and took advantage of six walks and two hit batters. Senior right fielder Cameron Boyd led the way going 4-for-4, with a walk, scoring three times and driving in two.
Sowder went 3-for-3 with a double and drove in four with junior third baseman Michael Detzel going 2-for-5 with a double, two runs batted in and two runs scored. Senior shortstop Ben Meier and eighth grade center fielder Tyler Fryman added crucial doubles.
Junior catcher Connor Norton also played a big role at the plate walking three times. Senior Evan Brauch ran for Norton twice and scored two runs. Senior Josh Schmidt ran for him in the bottom of the seventh, took second on a wild pitch then scored the game-tying run when Pangallo singled.
Highlands finished with 14 hits and took advantage of three Beechwood errors. Senior shortstop Jack Hendrix led the way going 4-for-4 with a double, one RBI and scored three times.
“We talk about approach. In the first two innings, it wasn’t good,” said Jeremy Baioni, Highlands head coach. “After that, it was really good and we barreled up some balls.”
Four other Bluebirds had two hits each in junior second baseman Drew Barth, junior first baseman Luke Schneider, junior left fielder Zach DeSylva and senior catcher Brennan Kelsay. DeSylva drove in three and scored twice with Kelsay doubling, driving in two and scoring once. Barth scored one run with Schneider belting a two-run home run in the top of the sixth to put Highlands up 13-6. Junior center fielder Callum McAtee doubled in two and scored once.
Beechwood senior pitcher Matthew Kappes started and pitched into the third inning, striking out four and walking one before senior Landon Johnson (4-0) took over. He retired Schneider on a fly out to left to end the third inning then finished the game striking out two and walking one.
“When it was 10-0, we told them to chip away at it,” Gray said. “It starts with quality at-bats. There were a couple times where we didn’t have quality at-bats. I thought the last three or four innings we had really good approaches.”
Senior Ryan DeBurger took a no-decision for Highlands allowing just three base runners in the first three innings to help Highlands build a 10-0 lead entering the bottom of the fourth. He struck out one and walked two in five innings pitched.
Senior Elijah Hale took over in relief in the sixth, but only recorded one out. Crawford (1-1) finished the game striking out two and allowing just two walks and one earned run.
“Ryan was really good the first two times through the lineup and that’s a really good lineup,” Baioni said. “The third time, they got to him a bit and his pitch count got up so we wanted to pull him. The biggest thing is we have to have a killer instinct. We knew it was a good team. We knew they were going to keep fighting.”
Kelsay had a two-run double with two out to put Highlands up 2-0 in the top of the second. The Bluebirds then exploded for eight runs in the top of the third to go up 10-0. McAtee had a two-run double in that inning.
But Beechwood chipped away scoring twice in the bottom of the fourth and four more in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead to 10-6. Down 13-6 in the bottom of the sixth, the Tigers scored six runs. Fryman had his crucial two-run double in that frame.
“I think it’s just all timing,” Fryman said. “You just get your foot down early and hit the ball. Seeing my team in the dugout going crazy was a great feeling.”
Highlands travels to Simon Kenton (18-8) on Thursday for a 5 p.m. game. Beechwood plays host to Covington Catholic (20-5) on Friday at 5 p.m. for the top seed in the 35th District Tournament.
Wednesday’s game was part of the Skyline Chili Reds Futures High School Showcase presented by Cincinnati Children’s Sports Medicine & Orthopaedics that was also Lace it Up for Pediatric Cancer Night. There was a donation war between the four schools involved, Newport Central Catholic and Covington Catholic playing in the nightcap.
Baseball Scores
Campbell County 8, Ryle 7
The Camels (19-8) edged the visiting Raiders (19-8) in the second meeting this year.
Braden Kramer’s 3-run homerun in the bottom of the sixth gave the Camels an 8-6 lead as they hung on in the top half of the seventh. It was one of six homers hit on the day, both teams with three.
The Camels finished with 10 hits. Freshman Tyler Schumacher went 2-for-3 with a double and scored twice. The senior first baseman Kramer went 2-for-4 with a home run, four RBI and scored once. Sophomore left fielder Zach Franzen went 2-for-4 with a double and RBI. Senior Jake Gross homered and drove in two with senior catcher Parker Schweitzer adding a solo home run.
Junior Chris Bramley started and pitched five innings striking out three, walking two and allowing three unearned runs. Junior Gavin Bell (2-1) pitched the sixth to earn the win striking out one and Gross pitched the seventh to earn his second save this year striking out two.
Ryle finished with eight hits. Junior left fielder Tate Cordrey led the way going 3-for-4 with a home run, three RBI and scored once. Senior designated hitter Roman Furuta homered driving in two and senior center fielder Landon Sawyer added a home run.
Ryle used three pitchers with sophomore Will Downing (0-1) taking the loss in relief. Downing and junior starter Grant Ashcraft struck out two each.
Campbell County travels to Bishop Brossart (12-15) on Thursday for a 5 p.m. 37th District seed game. Ryle travels to Bryan Station (1-18) on Friday for a 6 p.m. game as part of the Fayette County Invitational.
Other Baseball Scores
Bishop Brossart 10, Pendleton County 0 (5 innings)
Lloyd Memorial 7, Cooper 6
Covington Catholic 11, Newport Central Catholic 5
Conner 9, Dixie Heights 1
Scott 14, Bellevue 1 (5 innings)
St. Henry 11, Boone County 1 (5 innings)
Villa Madonna 15, Holy Cross 12
Holy Cross 8, Western Hills (Ohio) 1
Softball Scores
Lloyd Memorial 17, Holmes 2 (4 innings)
Scott 8, Beechwood 7
Gallatin County 11, Calvary Christian 0 (5 innings)
St. Patrick 10, Bellevue 0
Cincinnati (Ohio) McNicholas 9, Bishop Brossart 3
Conner 12, Grant County 2 (5 innings)
Cooper 8, Bracken County 1
Highlands 11, Dayton 0 (6 innings)
Simon Kenton 11, Owen County 3
Walton-Verona 4, Carroll County 3
Williamstown 10, Villa Madonna 4
Trimble County 17, St. Henry 1 (3 innings)
Trimble County 18, St. Henry 3 (3 innings)