The Chillicothe Paints clinch a playoff spot after being crowned First Half Champions
CHILLICOTHE — More times than not a team breaking out of a hitting slump would be the highlight of their night, but for the Chillicothe Paints, being crowned First Half champions of the Ohio River Valley Division definitely took the cake.
With the Paints' 10-3 victory over the Johnstown Mill Rats, they earned their 10th playoff berth in the past 13 seasons.
This accomplishment gives the team home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Remembering the trials and tribulations of last season, their field manager, Jackson White said that his team feels vindicated.
"Having the first round of the playoffs at home means a lot," White said. "We got a bad taste of it last summer when Champion City won and beat us on a walk-off. Now, we have the chance to do the same thing to another team in our division, but it will be at our place. Having home-field advantage, especially playing in the VA is so important."
Entering Tuesday's contest, the Paints had gone through a stretch of games where they had not had double-digit hits at home since June 19.
However, against the Miners' they ended the night with 11 hits and three batters with multiple hits.
One of those productive batters was their shortstop, Jeron Williams who had three hits and scored three runs in his first game back after a week-long absence from the team.
Happy to step back onto the field, Williams said that the time off did him a lot of good.
"The days off felt good," Williams said. "I got to re-energize my body. But, it feels even better to be back playing baseball again."
As great of a night at the plate as it was, it took the Paints a couple of innings to make it happen.
Through the game's first two innings, they had just one hit before taking off in the third inning.
In that time, the team had four hits with four runs to boot, overcoming a 2-0 deficit they came to the plate with.
Williams led off the inning with a single and Brett Carson followed that up with a double.
Then, Tim Orr hit an RBI single to bring home Williams for the team's first run of the night.
Owen Wilson kept the Paints' hitting streak going with an RBI single of his own which scored Carson.
Add another run after a batter was walked in with the bases loaded and a run from a fielder's choice and it was safe to say that the Paints were getting into a groove.
That groove continued on through the next three innings, where they scored all 10 of their runs, including five in the bottom of the fifth.
Connor Ashby scored a run after an error by the Mill Rats, Carson hit a two-RBI single, and Josh McAlister hit a two-RBI double.
As the team coasted to victory, the team received word about their playoff berth, which Williams said was a major relief.
"It's really good to be in the playoffs," Williams said. "Not to say that the second half of the season does not matter, but we can kind of relax and not have to worry about it as much."
Though a major weight has been lifted from the team's shoulders, do not expect the Paints to take their foot off of the gas any time soon.
"Championship teams don't give in or take any days off," White said. "This game will humble you if you take it for granted or take pitches off and that is something we can't do. Granted, clinching the playoff spot is nice because we can rest some guys, but that is it. We still have to come to play every day."
This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: The Paints are playoff-bound with first-half championship
