Baseball: Union City falls to Hudson via walk-off heart breaker in D3 Regional semifinal

BRONSON — When the skies opened up and the rain really began to fall Wednesday night, the Union City Chargers found themselves holding a 4-0 lead over the Hudson Tigers in the semifinals of the Division Three Regional Baseball tournament. Due to the adverse weather the game was delayed until Thursday afternoon, set to pick right up where the game left off, with the Chargers leading 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth and Hudson coming up to bat. Day two was not so kind to the Chargers as it was Hudson scoring five unanswered runs on Thursday, finishing off the come from behind win with a two out bases loaded walk off double, giving the Tigers the dramatic 5-4 victory.

“Losing the momentum from yesterday was huge for us,” said Union City head coach John Bain. “Kyle (Johnson) was pitching very well and we were fielding well. But the boys showed up early today before the bus left to hit and the mood was confident. Hats off to Hudson, their number nine hitter came through with a clutch hit. We hadn’t seen them hit to left field like that all game long. The fact that it was a full count with two outs also hurt as their runners were running full speed on the pitch delivery.”

The game began Wednesday afternoon under overcast skies on the campus of Bronson High School, with both teams battling the weather in search of the early advantage. Union City took that early advantage with the first runs of the game in the top of the third inning. The Chargers managed to load up the bases with one out thanks to a fielder’s choice off the bat of Wade Hoffman, a single from Kyle Johnson, and a walk drawn by Ryan Zweng. After a strikeout from the Hudson pitcher it was Union City junior catcher Tyler Wagley hitting a line drive to right field that a diving Bronson Marry could not catch up to for the Tigers defense, with the ball rolling all the way to the fence. Hoffman and Johnson came around to score on the play, giving Union City the early 2-0 lead.

After the Charger defense got out of the bottom of the third inning that saw the Tigers put two runners on, it was Union City once again adding to their run total. The inning started off with an Owen Jackson walk, followed by an Aiden Decker infield single, putting runners at first and second with no outs. Freshman Rick Austin did his job and sacrificed the runners over one base with a solid bunt, putting runners at second and third with one out. After the Hudson pitcher induced a fly ball for an out, it was Kyle Johnson hitting a hard RBI single right back up the gut, allowing Jackson and Decker to score on the play, giving Union City the 4-0 lead.

Once the inning came to an end the skies started to open up and the officials called for the delay, meaning the game would pick back up Thursday afternoon beginning at 1 p.m.

Losing that momentum was key for the Chargers as Hudson came back on day two with a little more enthusiasm than on day one.

Union City’s new pitcher, Ryan Zweng, and the Charger defense was ready however, keeping Hudson off the board throughout the fourth and the fifth innings, despite the Tigers putting a few runners on in each inning.

Union City could not seem to get anything going offensively however as they looked to add key insurance runs.

Hudson finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth inning with a pair of runs scored. After a walk drawn by Blake Tremaine it was a Nick Kopin triple to deep centerfield that allowed Tremaine to score, closing the score to 4-1. One batter later it was Kannon Marry hitting a line drive single to right field, allowing Kopin to score, closing the score to 4-2. Zweng dug deep and struck out the next Hudson batter, and after a walk issued to Hudson’s Bronson Marry put two runners on the Chargers got out of the inning with a line out to right field, keeping the score at 4-2 in favor of the Chargers.

Union City looked to add some insurance in the seventh however the Hudson defense turned an inning ending double play to essentially set the Chargers down in order, sending the game to the bottom of the seventh inning with the Chargers leading 4-2.

Hudson wasted little time staging their comeback, loading the bases with the first three batters thanks to a hard line shot to first base, a walk and a hit by pitch, giving the Tigers three runners on and no outs. Union City went to the bullpen after that, bringing in senior relief ace Wade Hoffman to try and keep the lead intact for the Chargers. Hoffman induced a pop fly from Tremaine in the first batter he faced, followed by a huge strikeout of Kopin in the next at-bat, bringing the game down to one last batter. After falling to Marry 3-0, Hoffman battled back with two straight strikes, pushing the count to full in a key situation. Marry took the next pitch and hit a deep line drive to left field that cleared the head of Charger outfielder Owen Jackson. With the runners in motion on the pitch all three had little trouble coming home on the play as Kannon Marry was mobbed by his teammates after hitting the bases loaded walk off double to end the game, giving the Tigers the dramatic 5-4 victory.

Ryan Zweng took the tough loss on the mound for Union City after throwing three innings in relief. Zweng came in to pitch on day two of the delayed game and allowed five hits and five runs with five walks and a strikeout.

Kyle Johnson made a solid start on day one of the two day contest, throwing three innings in the rain, allowing two hits with a strikeout. Senior Wade Hoffman ended the game on the mound for Union City after throwing two-thirds of an inning, allowing one hit with one strikeout.

Ethan Harris took the win on the mound for Hudson after throwing three innings on day two, allowing only one hit with a strikeout. Ambrose Horwath made the start on day one for Hudson, throwing four innings while allowing four hits and four runs with two walks and two strikeouts.

Kyle Johnson led the Union City offensive effort in his final game as a Charger, finishing the regional semifinal by going 3 for 4 with three singles, two Rbis and one run scored.

Tyler Wagley also had a big hit for the Chargers as he recorded a single with two Rbis. Also adding to the Union City effort was Wade Hoffman with a run scored; Ryan Zweng with a walk; Owen Jackson with a walk and a run scored; and Aidan Decker with a single and a run scored.

Hudson was led by Kannon Marry who went 2 for 4 with a single and a double and four RBIs.

With the win Hudson improves to 31-8 on the season and now advances on to Saturday’s Division Three Super Regional where they will face Clinton who defeated Jackson Lumen Christi in their semifinal 10-2. The Super Regional will kick off Saturday at 10 a.m. at Adrian College with the first regional final pitting Onsted versus Buchanan, followed by Hudson versus Clinton in game two at 12:30 p.m. The two regional winners will then face off in the state quarterfinal scheduled for 3 p.m.

Union City sees their tremendous 2022 season come to a heartbreaking end with the loss and finishes the year at 20-9 overall. Union City will now say goodbye to two very good seniors in Kyle Johnson and Wade Hoffman who leave due to graduation.

“We talked about getting back to this position next year, however it’s going to take a lot of work,” said Bain. “Replacing Wade (Hoffman) and Kyle (Johnson) will be very, very difficult and I’m going to miss seeing their faces around the diamond.”

The cupboard is far from bare for coach Bain and the Chargers however as the team returns seven starters from the lineup including soon to be seniors Phoenix Elkins, Tyler Wagley, Jakob Fosmore, and Alex Hull in addition to soon to be juniors Ryan Zweng and Owen Jackson, along with soon to be sophomores Aidan Decker and Rick Austin.

“I couldn’t be more proud of these boys. We had one of the best teams in Division Three on the ropes down to the final out. This one stings, but after the dust settles, the boys will remember all their success this year, including our first district title in eight years, our most season wins since 2018, and our Sand Creek Tournament championship amongst many other individual accomplishments,” added Bain.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Reporter: Baseball: Union City falls to Hudson in walk-off heart breaker in D3 Regional semifinal