Eastwood baseball's tournament run ends against Liberty Union
Jun. 4—ELIDA, Ohio — Eastwood's baseball team battled it out against a top Ohio pitching prospect, but the Eagles eventually fell 4-1 to Baltimore Liberty Union in the Division III regional semifinals Thursday.
Jacob Miller, Ohio's No. 1 prospect in the class of 2022 according to Prep Baseball Report, held the Eagles (26-4, 11-3 Northern Buckeye Conference) to three hits, only one of which went for extra bases. The junior pitcher's fastball has hit 92 mph, and he pairs it with a curve ball and slider.
"We pretty much knew what it was going to be like," Eastwood baseball coach Kevin Leady said about facing Miller. "We really battled him and we gave him probably everything he could handle, but you've got to tip your cap to him. He's unbelievable."
Liberty Union (16-6) moves on to the Division III regional final against Archbold.
Miller went the distance, striking out 13 Eagles and walking three. He also hit a batter.
The Eagles' Isaac Cherry found the most success against Miller, connecting on a double while walking twice. Lake Boos and Case Boos each had a single against the University of Louisville verbal commit.
Eastwood pitcher Lake Boos entered the game with a 7-1 record, 100 strikeouts, and a 2.23 earned run average. He also went the distance, striking out five batters with two walks.
"I went out, didn't feel my best, to be honest," Lake Boos said. "I didn't pitch my best, but still battled hanging in there and threw strikes to make my guys make the plays."
When Eastwood did reach base, the Eagles ran the bases aggressively. Case Boos stole second in the third and a few other Eastwood players attempted to steal a bag, too.
"Well, we knew if we had guys on, you had to run and run and run," Leady said. "And the times we could get on, we tried our best."
Eastwood scored the first run of the game in the third inning; its only lead of the day. Case Boos led off the inning with a single and a stolen base. With runners on the corners and one out, Jordan Pickerel hit a sac fly to right field and drove in Boos.
The Lions responded in the bottom half of the third when Cayden Carroll drove in John Edwards on a base hit up the middle.
Liberty Union broke up the 1-1 tie in the sixth. Miller slapped a triple to right field and drove in Dylan Anthony and Reed Farmer. Edwards followed Miller's extra-base hit with a single that drove in the junior pitcher.
Only one of Eastwood's starters graduate this season, and five of the Eagles in Thursday's lineup were sophomores.
"I'm extremely proud of these kids," Leady said. "Think back to the calendar year, last season was canceled. Come in February, a lot of unknowns still. They did absolutely everything we asked of them. And we made it to the regional, which is a big thing, and I'm very proud of them.
"We'll hopefully get better as a team next year, maybe be back here. It's very hard to get here, but that will be a goal again."
First Published June 3, 2021, 7:42pm
