'You have to execute every single pitch.' CHCA baseball stunned in regional semifinal loss
FAIRBORN, Ohio – Thursday was just another reminder in a single elimination style tournament, just one off night can cost you.
And for Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, reigning OHSAA Division III champions, Thursday proved to be that night.
A four-run third inning eruption by Northeastern proved to be the demise of the Eagles, paving the way to a 6-4 upset loss in the OHSAA Division III regional semifinal at Wright State University’s Nischwitz Stadium Thursday night.
“It’s tournament baseball, you have to execute every single pitch in a single-elimination situation...,” CHCA head baseball coach Tony Schulz said. “We just didn’t play our best game today defensively and on the mound. That was the difference. We couldn’t come up with a timely hit and that’s all she wrote for us.”
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The Eagles endured a shaky start to the contest as senior starting pitcher Colin Ames struggled with his control early in the contest. Ames walked two early batters, then allowed an RBI triple to Northeastern’s Dylan Haggy.
Despite his early struggles, Ames found his way out of further trouble in the first inning and kept the deficit at just 2-0.
With the Eagles' vast postseason experience, they were far from rattled after a rocky first inning.
“We talk all of the time: when a team puts up a couple runs on us, we’ve got to make sure to respond and we definitely did that,” Schulz said. “After doing that in the bottom of the first, we felt pretty good.”
Schulz’s group answered the bell – and did so in urgent fashion. Senior Jack Vogele crushed the first pitch of the inning over the left-field wall for a solo home run. Northeastern’s Colton Moone found himself into deeper trouble in the inning. Moone walked senior Cooper Robinson in the next at bat and found himself in a tough situation following consecutive balks. Junior Johnathan Russell immediately made Moone pay the price, slashing an RBI single to tie the game at 2-2.
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Moone managed to escape further damage by forcing a pair of groundouts and ending the threat.
Both teams went scoreless in the second inning, but the third inning proved to be a disastrous one for the Eagles. Haggy knocked in another run with his RBI single to begin the inning, and after Ames hit his fourth batter of the contest, his night was suddenly over. Schulz elected to pull Ames in favor of junior Joey Shafer, who inherited a bases-loaded situation with two outs.
Shafer allowed a first-pitch two-RBI single off the bat of Northeastern’s Seth Hall and balked in another run. Once the damage was complete, the Eagles were suddenly behind 6-2.
“Obviously that third inning got away from us – I take full blame for that, if I could do it over again, I’d do it differently,” Schulz said. “That’s on me.”
In dire need of a scoring surge to extend their magical season, the Eagles couldn’t seem to muster any momentum offensively through the third and fourth innings. But found themselves with a tremendous opportunity in the fifth inning.
Ames and senior Ty Yelton combined for a pair of RBIs and effectively ended Moone’s night on the mound. Northeastern’s Cade Houseman came on in relief in an attempt to silence the CHCA rally and give Houseman credit, he did just that. Despite battling in a bases-loaded jam with one out, Houseman forced Vogele – already with a home run on the night – to pop up and struck out Robinson to end the inning.
To miss out on an opportunity of that magnitude was simply devastating for their rally attempt.
“Like I said, in tournament baseball you almost have to almost play perfect,” Schulz said. “Being the No. 1-ranked team in the state, you’re going to get their best and we have to wear that. We’ve had it most of the season, but just didn’t have it today.”
Despite allowing a ground-rule double to Eagle senior Andrew Brock in the seventh, Houseman closed out the remainder of the contest unblemished and closed the door on CHCA’s hopes of repeating as state champions.
“My message is going just be: for the seniors, just such an unbelievable run for them. A state championship and the great season we had. Nothing that happened today takes away from what they did for this program... I hope our underclassmen can learn from (this) and for our seniors, appreciate everything they’ve done and congratulations.”
CHCA ends its season with a 25-2 record. Northeastern (18-7) will continue their postseason quest in Friday’s region final against Roger Bacon (19-8) at Wright State University. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.
Northeastern: 2 0 4 0 0 0 0 – 6
CHCA: 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 – 4
Pitching: WP (NE) – Colton Moone – 4 1/3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 6 BB, 0 K. | LP (CHCA) – Colin Ames – 2 2/3 IP, 2 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 6 BB, 4 K.
Notable hitting: NE: Haggy 2-4 2 RBIs, 3B, R; Hall 1-2 2 RBIs; Moone 1-3 2B, R; Graves 0-2, 2 R. CHCA: Vogele 1-4 HR, R, RBI; Russell 1-4 RBI; Ames 1-3 RBI; Yelton 0-3 RBI.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: OHSAA baseball: CHCA stunned in Division III regional semifinal loss
