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Warriors beat Kenton Ridge 2-1 in 9 innings in semifinal
By Jonas Fortune
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Friday, Jun 06, 2008
COLUMBUS: The sun glared, the wind blew and Walsh Jesuit found a way to win a Division II state tournament semifinal Thursday at Cooper Stadium.
It took the Warriors nearly three hours and two extra innings in the sweltering heat before Matt Pollock popped up a pitch over first base that plated the game-winning run — and the only earned run of the game.
It allowed Walsh Jesuit to escape with a nine-inning, 2-1 win over Springfield Kenton Ridge. The Warriors, 29-3, will meet Canal Winchester in the state final at 10 a.m. Saturday at Cooper Stadium. Kenton Ridge finishes its season at 21-7.
Canal Winchester beat Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin 6-5 in eight innings in Thursday's second semifinal.
''My heart is still racing,'' Walsh Jesuit coach Chris Kaczmar said. ''What a baseball game.''
Pollock's popup, which was
misjudged in the swirling wind and fell in short right field, never would have occurred had a disputed call in the top of the seventh inning gone the Warriors' way as they nursed a 1-0 lead with two outs.
Kenton Ridge sophomore Jonathan McDuffie led off the inning by being hit in the shoulder on a pitch from Walsh reliever Brannon Belair. A sacrifice bunt and a Derek Toadvine single placed runners on the corners.
Belair struck out Zach Jones, then faced junior Ethan Sharpin, who chipped the ball in front of the plate on a swinging bunt. Walsh Jesuit catcher James Toland picked up the ball and fired a high strike to first that, in the eyes of umpire Chad Buckalew, pulled first baseman Ryan Berry off the bag as McDuffie crossed home plate with the tying run.
''We got a break on a little swinging bunt there down the line,'' Kenton Ridge coach Aaron Shaffer said. ''It was close play at first; I really didn't see it.''
The call forced the game into extra innings, during which the teams continued to rely on their pitching. They combined for only 13 hits overall in nine innings.
''From my perspective, where I saw it, it looked like he had come down soon enough,'' Kaczmar said of the questioned call. ''The umpires didn't see it that way.''
Walsh pushed the winning run across when McDuffie, who had relieved Kenton Ridge starter Matt Palmer in the eighth inning, walked the first two batters of the ninth on nine pitches. Walsh Jesuit pinch-hitter Tom Charles then placed a bunt down the third-base line off reliever Luke Mamer to load the bases.
With no outs, Pollock, who had three of the Warriors' seven hits and scored the first run of the game in the first inning, popped up the first pitch he saw from Mamer. Kenton Ridge first baseman Randon McNeil ranged to his left into foul territory, then danced back to his right into shallow right field and never seemed to get a read on the ball.
''I thought it was going out of play, to be honest,'' Pollock said. ''I hit it pretty high and the wind just carried it back into play.''
As the ball plopped down next to McNeil in shallow right, Matt Keller charged across home plate, sending Walsh into the championship game.
Palmer allowed four hits and no earned runs, striking out seven, in seven innings. Walsh starter Tyler Skulina, a sophomore, struck out eight and allowed two hits in 52/3 innings.
Jonas Fortune can be reached at jfortune@thebeaconjournal.com.
COLUMBUS: The sun glared, the wind blew and Walsh Jesuit found a way to win a Division II state tournament semifinal Thursday at Cooper Stadium.
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