Baseball | Missed chances cost West Holmes in district final against New Philadelphia

MAGNOLIA — Just as King Richard was willing to trade his kingdom for a horse in Shakespeare's Richard III, West Holmes coach Wyatt Mellor was willing to give his kingdom for a clutch hit.

Unfortunately for the Knights, the big hit never came, and the New Philadelphia Quakers hung on for a 2-1 win in the Div. II East District championship Wednesday at Sandy Valley High School.

"That's baseball," the first-year head coach of the Knights said. "We had our opportunities in front of us, and we missed those opportunities, and ultimately, it cost us the game. They made the plays they had to make and got the outs they needed."

In the top of the first inning, Rudy Hershberger laced a one-out single to right for West Holmes. Right fielder Elliott Brown airmailed the throw to third trying to get Gino DiNardi, who reached on an error.

Quaker third baseman Brenton Billman ran down the bad throw and fired a bullet home to nail DiNardi trying to score.

"That was 1-in-10 throw he made," Mellor said of Billman's effort. "He hit the catcher right in the chest with that throw. That was a big time play to start the game, that's for sure."

Micah Martin followed with a single that put runners on the corners, but New Phila's junior hurler Carter Vandall struck out Hunter Aurand to escape the first inning jam.

West Holmes starter Nick Ginsburg was not as fortunate in the bottom of the inning, after walking the first two Quaker hitters and surrendering a single with nobody out. A ground ball to short with a drawn-in infield forced the first out at home, but a second ground ball to short was hit too slowly and Aurand made the play to first, allowing Vandall to score.

In the West Holmes third, Dylan Robinson started the frame with a single to left, and Brady Smith reached on an error. DiNardi dropped a bunt single to load the bases with nobody out.

Vandall then dug deep to strike out Hershberger and Martin, then induced a ground ball back to the mound to end the threat.

"You've got to put up zeroes and try to cut off big innings," Quaker coach Tyler Weisel said. "The bases loaded, nobody out, and Carter strikes out two guys and gets that comebacker was unbelievable. That right there was the game. That was the biggest momentum killer you could have, and the momentum never went back to them.

"And Carter is such a bulldog. He's such a competitor," Weisel continued. "He was electric from pitch No. 1. He's fun to watch out there. Plus, he scored our first run, drove in the second run and pitched a complete game for the win. That's Carter Vandall right there, Mr. Do-it-all."

The 16-9 Quakers made it 2-0 in the home half of the fifth, turning a lead-off walk and a stolen base into a run. Vandall ripped a two-out, run-scoring single to left to plate Charlie Gibbs.

The Knights finally got to Vandall in the top of the seventh with two outs. Pinch hitter Blake McCombs singled and Robinson followed with a walk. Brady Smith singled sharply to left to score McCombs, but Vandall got DiNardi to line out to second to end the game, and the season for West Holmes (14-13).

West Holmes had six hits by six different players.

Vandall allowed one run on six hits. The tall right-hander struck out nine and walked one.

Mellor praised the three-hit pitching performance of Ginsburg, who struck out seven and walked six.

"I can't speak highly enough about Nick Ginsburg," Mellor said. "He went out there and pitched the exact game we needed him to. The defense made some great plays behind him. He seemed to get stronger as the game went on. We just didn't execute with the bats."

Ginsburg felt he executed well.

"We had a good game plan going in, but they got a few timely hits and we just came up short," the junior said.

The Knights players were sad their season ended, but they enjoyed the ride.

"I'm thankful I had this opportunity to play for these coaches, and I'm thankful for my team, " DiNardi said. "We came up short, but we did what we could. I'll miss this, but I'm thankful I was part of it."

Brady Smith liked the way the team battled to the end.

"I never thought this would end. I thought I'd be in high school forever," Smith said. We're like a family. We're all so close, like brothers."

Ginsburg agreed.

"These guys are all like brothers," he said. "We're really going to miss these seniors and the leadership they expressed. I've never seen a leader like Noah Clark, and Gino DiNardi works harder than anyone else. Matthew Weaver gives everything he has. They're just a great group of guys."

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Baseball: New Philadelphia beats West Holmes 2-1 in district final