Weather cools down, but Shrine action heats up as Final 4 decided
NEWARK — Heath Vaughn's Barber Shop stunned Mound City Wright Brothers with a sixth-inning rally on Saturday. But one of the host teams for the Licking County Shrine Tournament remained undaunted.
After Vaughn's struck for six runs, taking a 10-9 lead, it took Wright Brothers all of three pitches to come back for an 11-10 Varsity Division win and a Final 4 berth.
It was that type of day, with temperatures cooling from the earlier heat wave into beautiful 70-degree weather. Nearly all eight of the quarterfinals were hotly contested as four teams in each division reached Sunday's semifinals in the 77th event.
Daniel Hoberg immediately rallied Wright Brothers, hammering the first pitch he saw for a game-tying solo home run. Blake Malcolm tripled on the next pitch and Bella Stewart then squeezed him home as Wright Brothers kept its hopes alive for a Shrine title, after finishing as runnerup last year.
"I was just trying to drive it out to left field. I just saw it, and drove it," Hoberg said. "I knew we weren't done. We kind of fell apart after they (Vaughn's) rallied. But I hit a home run and Blake tripled, and it brought us back together. We've been fighting all year and people have been doubting us. We don't want to lose our tournament."
Sunday's semifinal opponent, North Newark Mattingly Landscape, also had to scrap before edging league rival MedBen 9-6. "We had the lead, then gave up a six-run inning," lamented MedBen manager Toby Reidenbach. "But hats off to them."
On the other side of the Varsity bracket, another pair of North Newark clubs survived tough contests. Licking Memorial Hospital found itself down 7-3 to Lakewood Clay's Cafe, before exploding from behind for a 17-7 victory. And Edward Jones was able to ward off Heath Central Ohio Garage Door 7-5.
"We figured they were a good team, and knew we had to be on our game to beat them," said Edward Jones manager Shannon McLaughlin.
"We were on the tough side of the bracket," admitted Central Ohio manager Mike Matheny, whose team started Heath Hall of Fame coach Dave Klontz's grandsons (pitcher David and catcher Isaiah) as batterymates. "We played hard, played our game and had great pitching, but we gave up a few easy ones."
Matheny's son Cooper pitched a 14-strikeout no-hitter last Sunday in the Shrine against Heath league rival Mills Insurance. "We played a great team last week and we played a great team today," he said. "We still play Mills for our league title on Wednesday, so we have that to look forward to."
The Edward Jones-LMH rematch should be must-see baseball. "It's been that way the last couple of years. We win a couple, and they win a couple," McLaughlin said.
Over in the Farm Division, both early games on Saturday were dandies. Heath Texas Road House came back from down 9-4 to defeat North Newark Rooster's 12-9, while MedBen slipped past Claggett Landscape 5-2 in a North Newark showdown. Those two winners will meet in the Final 4.
"There was great pitching," said Reidenbach, who also manages MedBen's Varsity entry. "Kylen Watson threw a terrific game for them, and L.J. Wion won the pitcher's duel for us. Our one through six batters did just a little better than theirs, and we made some nice defensive plays when they had runners on the bases."
Meanwhile, North Newark Dor-Mar remained on its quest for a Shrine title after placing second last year, downing Licking Valley Wright Brothers 14-2. They'll face league foe Park National Bank, a 14-6 winner against defending Farm champion LMH, in the semifinals.
"We set five goals for this year, and we've accomplished three of them," said Dor-Mar manager Steve Brewer. "We've won the pre-season tournament at Thornville, the Memorial tournament at Johnstown, and our league. We still want to win our league tournament, and win the Shrine. Our top six hitters were all 9 last year, and now they're 10. We run the bases as well as anyone, and our catcher (Tyree Whetstone) shuts down other teams' runners."
Brewer said winning the Shrine is the number one goal. He has a title as a player, but never as a coach. He and his brother Greg have coached 13 years together. "When my son Luke and nephew Knox were born, we said, 'someday, they're going to win the Shrine together,'" Steve said.
It won't be easy against PNB. "They beat us in the pre-season tourney, and we had to beat them twice in the finals to win it," Brewer said. "We're 4-1 against them, but it's going to be a battle."
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Weather cools down, but Shrine action heats up as Final 4 decided
