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| Allen Ramsey Photo. Highlands Designated Hitter Kenny Ball (left) reached third ahead of the tag of Conner third baseman Jacob Owens (50). Highlands lost in the 9th Region championship, 3-0 Wednesday. |
By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM
Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter
FLORENCE –
They made their second appearance in the 9th Region title game in two years
Wednesday.
But
unfortunately for the Highlands Bluebirds baseball team, two words have kept
the Bluebirds (22-18) from bringing the elusive gold trophy back to Fort
Thomas. That’s clutch hitting.
It cost
them in a 3-0 loss to the Conner Cougars at University of Cincinnati Medical
Center Stadium. Conner (25-9) scored three unearned runs in the bottom of the
seventh to pull off the win. The Cougars won their first crown since 1979.
“That is a phenomenal team over there,” said Brad Arlinghaus, Conner Head Coach, of
Highlands. “My heart goes out to them.
They battled and deserved this as much as we did.”
The
Bluebirds have been outscored by a combined 6-1 in those title games.
Newport
Central Catholic beat them, 3-1 in the title game in 2012. The Bluebirds hoped
to win their first region crown since consecutive titles in 1996 and 1997.
“Guys are playing their tails off,” said Jeremy Baioni, Highlands Head Coach. “We didn’t put a few hits together and made
some base running mistakes. You simply can’t do that against good teams and
win. It just wasn’t mean to be.”
Highlands
managed six hits off Conner pitchers Blaise Ostertag and Nick Craddock. Jake
Whitford led the way going 3-for-3 with a double.
“(Ostertag and Craddock) threw the ball well,” Baioni said. “I
think we got a little undisciplined at the plate and started to chase some
balls that were out of the strike zone. It’s the regional final and these guys
were anxious and ready to go. I think that hurt us offensively.”
The
Bluebirds had two wonderful chances to score. They put runners on second and
third with two out in the third. Even Allen walked and moved to third when
Whitford singled. Whitford moved to second on a Conner fielding error. But
Ostertag got Todd Ramey to pop out.
The
Bluebirds also put the first two runners on base in the seventh inning.
Craddock hit D.J. Mills with a pitch and Luke Hennigan singled pinch-runner
Austin Beal to third before pinch-runner Mitch Gesenhues stole second. But
Craddock, a freshman, struck out Brandon Hergott and Alex Veneman before
coaxing Brady Murray to pop out to end the game.
Sophomore
Ricky Raisor pitched a great game for Highlands. The Cougars did not move
anyone past second until the sixth inning. They only managed three hits off
Raisor and relief pitcher Mitch Jones.
Jeffrey
Schneider was hit by a pitch to open the sixth. Raisor retired Cameron Ross and
Ostertag before Jared Williams walked. The Bluebirds brought in Jones at that
point.
Blake Hart
hit a ground ball to the right side that appeared to end the threat. But the
ball skipped past Mills into right allowing Schneider to score. Ryan Wared then
batted home Williams and pinch-runner Matthew Justice on a triple.
The
Bluebirds graduate five seniors from the team. They are Allen, Joey Cochran,
Ben Vermeil, Gesenhues and Hergott. Highlands won just six games their freshmen
years.
“The seniors are one of the reasons we’ve come as far
as we have,” Baioni said. “Those guys have worked their tails off
since the eighth grade and wanted to see this thing through to a regional
championship. We fell just short of that. They have nothing to be ashaimed of.”
Highlands
will also be able to pull up players from successful freshmen and junior
varsity squads. They both claimed the 9th Region Tournament crowns.