Springfield baseball team held in check

By John Bassetti

The Tigers hit the ball hard but managed only three hits in a 3-1 loss to Patrick Henry.

COLUMBUS — It may be little consolation to Springfield, but its three hits that counted officially were just a fraction of the overall contact made by the Tigers at the plate in Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Hamler Patrick Henry in the Division IV baseball championship game at Huntington Park.

“We hit the ball hard, we just couldn’t get anything to go through,” said Springfield coach Bob Beam. “When they hit it, they got it to go through.”

Hamler, which repeated as state champion, finished with 11 hits, and many of those were well-placed ones.

Springfield fell behind early, 2-0, then quickly pulled within one in the bottom of the second. However, that was the extent of the meaningful offense as the Tigers (29-5) failed to take advantage of runners on first and third with two outs in the frame.

By then, Patrick Henry had already racked up five hits and managed more regularity as the game wore on.

Beam said the Tigers were hitting the ball, especially in the second when Matt Semach’s sacrifice fly pushed Bryan Visingardi across. On the previous at-bat, Frank Sferra’s sacrifice bunt advanced Visingardi to third. After Semach’s RBI, Brad Ferraro walked and took first base with Dylon DeJane at third. DeJane had singled to reach base. Nick Russell then struck out to end the threat.

“That’s a situation where we hit the ball, but it just didn’t get through,” Beam said of his team’s travails.

DeJane also doubled in the fourth for two of his team’s hits. Travis Richey had the only other Tigers’ hit.

Richey (8-2) was the starter and loser who gave way to Todd Kibby after 42‚Ñ3 innings. Richey allowed 10 hits and three runs before Kibby limited the Patriots to one hit over the next 21‚Ñ3.

“We were in this game until the very end, but we just didn’t get it done today,” Beam said. “I thought we hit and hit hard, but it was right at them.”

The Patriots (25-4) scored their final run in the fifth.

Beam commented on winning pitcher Brian Kline, who went the distance.

“He threw strikes and that’s what you’ve gotta do. Their pitcher [Nick Gerschutz] that won on Friday threw just like him [Kline], but they make every play on defense.”

Beam had no problem keeping Richey on the mound as long as he did.

“No, run-wise, Travis was fine,” Beam said of the hits Richey allowed. “They were only singles.”

To support the contact-with-the-bat claim, the teams combined for just seven strikeouts and walked five times.

“It just goes that way, sometimes,” Richey said of the outcome. “I think we played a good game. We accomplished a lot and I’m proud of every single player on our team.”

Of the threat in the bottom of the second, Richey said: “Honestly, I thought we were going to score more. Usually, once we start, we keep going. It just didn’t go our way tonight.”

Richey said he felt confident coming in as the starter.

“We heard that this team was good and everything, but we were going to try to match their intensity,” he said.

A lot of credit for Patrick Henry’s early edge goes to shortstop Cody Meyer’s slick defense.

“He stayed down and took one off the chest and made a great save,” Patriots manager Shawn Sunderman said of his infielder when Richey led off in the bottom of the first with a hard grounder that Meyer bobbled, dropped, then recovered to make the throw to first in time. On the next at bat by Ronnie Bovo, Meyer went deep to his right, stopped the grounder and threw it to first for the second out.

“He’s been doing that for four years,” said Sunderman, who took over the Patriots after Greg Inselmann stepped down so he could follow his son at the University of Toledo.

Sunderman said Kline knows how to pitch.

“He can hit spots and mixes well and he’s always one step ahead of the offense.”

Mitch Leonard had three singles to lead Patrick Henry’s hitters.

Springfield’s previous state appearance was in 1994 in the Div. III semifinals to Ontario. That Richard Cyrus-coached team lost, 4-3. Springfield lost to Reading in the 1980 Class AA state championship game, 10-5. Springfield was also in the state final in 1930, but lost the then-Class B title game to St. Paris, 12-6. That team was coached by Roman Miller.