Controversial play ends Harding game
By Jon moffett
Struthers
The final play in the Division I tournament game between Warren Harding and Brush High left one coach steaming and another feeling very fortunate.
Trailing 3-1 in the top of the seventh inning, Brush had the bases loaded and one out. Pitcher Jake Turner hit a ground ball up the middle, and teammate Nick Strah was ruled out on the force play at second base. Turner was called safe at first since the first baseman pulled his foot off the base.
Thinking they had turned the game-ending double play, the Raiders team began to leave the field. Turner stepped off the base, and was tagged out. A runner, Evan Allen, came around to score for the Arcs, and a second runner crossed the plate, but it was ruled to have happened after the tag at first.
Despite nearly 10 minutes of on-field arguments, the call stood and Harding earned a 3-2 victory.
Brush head coach Ross Gray was frustrated after the game — and nearly an hour of appeals following the final call — and said it was another odd play he’d seen in his 30 years in baseball.
Harding coach Ed Shaker was less bothered by the unconventional double-play. His Raiders turned five double plays.
“That’s definitely not the norm for us, but our defense stepped up when they had to,” he said. “The defense came out today and they shined.”
Senior pitcher Tyler Chapin was the beneficiary of those plays, and said it was the defense that won the game for the Raiders. Chapin (8-1) had six strikeouts and allowed eight hits in his complete-game performance.
“You get so comfortable out there with a defense playing like that,” said Chapin. “When you’ve got one out, you’re thinking about how you have two more guys to face. But then you get a ground ball and the inning is over.”
The Raiders, who ended five of the seven innings with two outs on one pitch, had five hits to back up the defense. Shaker said all three phases of the game — pitching, defense and offense — have bailed his team out this year.
The Raiders continue their postseason run against St. Edward tonight at 4:30 p.m. at Cene Park.